Where There's A Nerdy Girl, There's A Cocky Boy: The Sequel
by AusllyxxRauraForever
Summary: "It's been about two months since Austin and I said our 'I love you's'. We haven't talked much since then. It's just been awkward between us. I wish he would just start being mean to me again!" Sequel to Where There's A Nerdy Girl, There's A Cocky Boy obviously. Go and read that one first if you haven't already.
1. Chapter 1

It's been about two months since Austin and I said our 'I love you's'. We haven't talked much since then. It's just been awkward between us. We probably would have ceased talking altogether if we didn't have any mutual classes... and if we weren't chemistry partners... and if I wasn't tutoring Austin... I wish he would just start being mean to me again! It would make life a whole lot easier! I sigh and continue to my next class. I sit down.

"Hey, Ally, Austin wanted me to give—" Dez starts but I cut him off.

"Please don't talk to me about Austin. I'm not even in the mood right now," I snap.

"He just wanted me to give you a note," he says. He casually throws it onto my desk and takes out his phone. I glance at Mrs. West before throwing the note in the trash... Curiosity gets the best of me though and I take it back out. I open it up and look down at Austin's messy handwriting.

_Dear Als_—

Of course he starts off with the stupid nickname he always called me.

—_I miss you._—

Yeah, right.

—_Why don't we ever talk anymore? I mean, I know we talk and all but why don't we ever talk like we used to? I know you miss our late night talks..._—

I bite my lip as all of our conversations come flooding back to me.

_-and how I would bite your lip when we kissed...-_

The irony. I start chewing on my hair.

—_and how I would whisper in your ear..._—

A shiver runs down my spine as I imagine it.

—_and how I would sing to you when you couldn't sleep..._—

I stop reading there. How can he just spring _that _on me? I do miss that... A lot.

—_I can't come over for my lesson today but can you come to my house tonight? Around 8:00?_—

No. No, I can't.

—_Love, Austin_

Love. I throw the note back on Dez's desk, furious with it.

"Can I read it?" he asks, picking it up.

"No! Don't read it!" I yell, snatching it from his hands. Everyone turns to stare at me. Even Mrs. West. My face turns red and I sink down in my char, shoving the note into my pocket. Everyone goes about their business and I just sit there with my head down for the rest of the period.

I walk to French with my head down. There are a few people who still believe the rumors and those few can still get to my head. I walk as quickly as I can to French and hope Austin went home sick or something. Of course he didn't, though. He runs a hand through his hair and looks over at me.

"Did you get my note?" he asks. I toss it at him.

"Yes, I did," I snap.

"Ally, what is wrong with you? What did I ever do to—?" He stops himself. He knows damn well what he's done. "Okay, um, lemme rephrase...: what did I do to you three months ago? What made you suddenly hate me?" he asks. What _did _he do?

"You're the one who would put the elephant in the room every time we were near each other," I tell him.

"Really, Ally? I don't have an elephant. How am I supposed to fit one into the room anyway?" he asks. I roll my eyes.

"It's a metaphor," I say.

"So will you?" he asks.

"Will I what?" I ask him.

"Will you come over tonight?" he asks. I sigh.

"I don't know," I tell him. Should I? I'll have to think about it. "Why can't you just start being mean again? Don't you need it?" I ask.

"Yeah, I do, but I haven't, have I?" he asks.

"Well, will you? Please?" I beg. If he's mean, it'll make me not miss him as much.

"Fine... wh-whore," he says. I feel my hatred towards him returning.

"Thanks, Blondie," I say. He's hesitant to be rude to me for the rest of the day. I sit down on my bed after I finish my homework and look at the clock. 7:45.

_Dear Als,_

_I miss you. Why don't we ever talk anymore? I mean, I know we talk but why don't we ever talk like we used to? I know you miss our late night talks... and how I would bite your lip when we kissed... and how I would whisper in your ear... and how I would sing to you when you couldn't sleep... I can't come over for my lesson today but can you come to my house? Around 8:00?_

_Love, Austin_

I grab my jacket and walk downstairs.

"Where are you going?" my mom asks me.

"I'm going to Austin's house," I tell her.

"Oh, no you're not. There's supposed to be a blizzard tonight," she tells me.

"A blizzard?" I ask. She nods. I sigh and walk back to my room. Should I call him or something...? No, that's what he wants me to do. I do want to talk to him though... I take out my phone and call him. He rejects the call. I sigh and put my phone down. At least he's doing what I asked him to. I really regret my wish. I shouldn't though. It'll help me get over him.

There was no blizzard last night so I had to go to school the next day. Austin was as cold as ever and I'm kind of relieved for that. After school, he comes over like he always does. Now he's stretched out on my bed like he owns the place.

"Austin, we need to study. Pay attention," I snap.

"I'll do that when you give me a blow job," he tells me.

"I thought I explained that. I am _never ever giving you a blow job_!" I yell.

"What's going on up here?" my mom asks, walking into my room.

"Nothing, Mom. Austin might be leaving a bit sooner than usual," I say, closing my French textbook and dropping it onto my desk irritatedly.

"Okay, I'll call his parents and tell them to come," my mom says. Austin sits up and sits against the wall that my bed is pushed up against.

"No, Mrs. Dawson, Ally was just joking," Austin tells her. She smiles and leaves my room, closing the door behind her.

"Don't you _want _to go home?" I ask.

"Do you know how boring it is at my house?" he asks.

"Are you going to pay attention or will I have to push you off of my balcony?" I ask. I pick up my textbook and sit down on my bed. I feel Austin's weight shift on my bed. He's breathing down my neck now. He wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

"You know you miss this," he whispers in my ear. My eyes slide shut and my head falls backwards onto his shoulder. "I know you're weak. You'll give in soon. Just say the words and I'll stop being so mean. I'll be all yours again." At this, I open my eyes and raise my head to the regular position.

"No," I say firmly. He kisses my neck and I moan. I yank my head away from him and stand up. "We need to study for the test on Friday."

"You remember that time that I got a kiss every time I got something right?" he asks. My cheeks get hot but I nod anyway.

"How about every time I get something right, you give my dick a suck?" he asks.

"Hell to the fucking no," I snap.

"Well then I'm not studying," he says stretching back out on my bed.

"Then get outta my house," I say. He sighs.

"Fine, I'll study but only 'cause I don't wanna go home," he says. I smile. We start studying and Austin's pretty cooperative until we're almost finished.

"Austin, stop it," I say. I shove him away from me but he doesn't go far. He pulls me into his lap and locks his arms around me.

"Austin, let me go," I demand, struggling and trying to hit him.

"Nah, I'm good," he says. He shrugs. I sigh. I sink into him and wait for him to let me go.

"Ah, come on, whore. It's no fun unless you don't like it," he tells me.

"I _don't _like it," I mutter.

"Well, it's not fun unless you're trying to stop me," he says.

"What's the point? You're too strong," I mumble. He slowly releases me. The doorbell rings downstairs.

"Bye," I say, closing my book and standing up. He doesn't move. "Well?" I ask, tapping my foot.

"I love you, Als," he tells me, leaving my room. That was the meanest of all. I shake my head and try to ignore it. The next day at school was even worse. As I walk into chemistry, I see Austin's already there, sitting with his feet in my chair.

"Move your feet," I say.

"Oh, 's'up, babe?" he asks me. We never officially broke up so I guess he still has the right to call me that. I roll my eyes and shove his feet out of my chair. I brush the dirt from his stupid, yellow converse off of it and sit down. He puts his feet in my lap.

"Is this really necessary?" I ask, gesturing to his feet.

"I need somewhere to put 'em," he says.

"How about the floor?" I suggest, moving his feet again.

"Austin, Ally, pay attention," Mr. Baldwin snaps at us. I turn my attention to the front. He teaches us how to make some kind of experiment. Apparently, it'll take twice as long so we're going to make it tomorrow.

"Tomorrow will be the last experiment—!" Everyone cheers as he says this. "You didn't let me finish. Tomorrow will be the last experiment of the month!" he yells.

"Aw," everyone says sadly.

"But after that experiment, we have Christmas vacation!" he exclaims. Everyone cheers again. The bell rings. "Class is dismissed." I walk up to Mr. Baldwin's desk when everyone leaves.

"Mr. Baldwin, is there any way that I can change partners?" I ask him.

"You heard me on the first day, Ms. Dawson. Austin's your permanent partner for the year," he tells me.

I regret my decision more and more each day. But I won't give in. I refuse to. I'm Allyson Marie Dawson and there is one thing that Allyson Marie Dawson is not! She is not weak! Why is she talking in the third person? She is going to stop now...

As I sit in Pre-Calculus with Austin and Trish copying off of my already-finished paper, I think... Maybe I could go back to hating his guts. That shouldn't be too hard. Should it? It seems easy for him. That's another thing that makes me mad. It was so easy for him to slip back into his old ways. _Too _easy. It's like he really did hate me these past few months and he was just covering it up. I sigh frustratedly.

"What's wrong, Ally?" Trish whispers to me. I jerk my head in Austin's direction. She nods in understanding and when he looks back to finish his copying, Trish gives him the dirtiest look she can manage. He copies down the last answer and taps his pencil on his desk.

After a minute, he takes out a piece of paper and starts to write something down. He folds it up and throws it back onto my desk. Again, my curiosity forces me to open it.

_Those four little words. Are they really so hard to say?_

I crumble it up and throw it at the back of his head. He turns around.

"Are they?" he mouths. I shake my head. He turns back around faces the front. When he doesn't pick up the note, I bend down, pick it up, and throw it away. I don't like litter. When the bell rings, I rush to my next class absentmindedly.

I walk into World History and sit down in my usual desk. I take out my textbook and begin to read it. After I've read through that page, I turn it... but there's no more pages. Have I really read the whole book? Dez nudges me.

"What? Did Austin give you another note to give me?" I ask. Why can't he just give these to me earlier in the day? We have a bunch of classes together. I mean, really. Really. To my surprise, Dez shakes his head.

"Actually, I wanted to know if you could tell Trish to come find me between this period and the next," he tells me.

"I'll do that as soon as possible," I promise him. After this period is over, I walk to locker number 382. I put my books in and shut the locker door. I turn around and see Austin walking off the school grounds toward the woods. His little drinking session. I roll my eyes in disgust at it. I see Trish walking down the hall and I run to her.

"Hey, Dez wants you to—"

"Hey, Trish," Dez says, walking up and putting his arm around her. "Thanks, Ally but I found her!" He smiles proudly.

"Awesome. I'll see you two later," I tell them. As I walk back to my locker (I put some books in but didn't take any out), I hear Dez say a few words that I don't like.

"Hey, you wanna go somewhere with me?" he asks.

**Here's the new story. A.K.A the winner of the poll! I finally got to upload a sequel! Wheeeeee! … … … Oh, gosh, it's a sequel. I don't know if this was such a good idea... Anyhoodles, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	2. Chapter 2

"Right now? Like, cut class?" Trish asks.

"It's only one period," Dez tells her.

"Trish, can I talk to you?" I ask, walking back over to her.

"Yeah, sure. Hang on a sec', Dezzy-Roo," Trish says. I pull her over to my locker.

"Don't go," I tell her firmly.

"Why not?" she asks. "I'm just cutting one period. You've done it before."

"Once. Just once. And I shouldn't have. He's taking you into the woods where—"

"Into the woods?!" she asks, her eyes wide.

"Yeah. He's taking you to some kind of clubhouse. Austin and his friends all drink until they throw up," I tell her.

"Dez drinks?" she asks, glancing over at him.

"No, no, Dez doesn't drink. He's just there to make fun of them," I reassure her.

"Well then no problem, right?" she asks.

"I guess not..." I say, still worried.

"If you're really that worried then come with me," she says. I shake my head.

"Trish, I can't do that. Austin's going to be there," I tell her.

"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" she asks. "You just don't want me to be in the same room with Austin."

"No, I just don't want you to get in trouble, that's all," I say.

"Well come with me," she says. "I'm going to go whether you like it or not. Would you like me to go alone or would you like to come with me?"

"I guess I'm coming with you," I sigh. We walk back over to Dez.

"Ally's coming with us?" he asks. Trish nods. "Mmkay," he says, carelessly. We walk out of school, down the road a bit, into the woods, and to the clubhouse. They both walk in but I hesitate outside the door. I shove a strand of hair in my mouth and walk in awkwardly.

"Hey Ally!" all of Austin's friends say together. Austin nudges one of them and they all notice. "Hey, whore!" they exclaim. Dez sets up the drinks and I sit down beside Trish by the door. Austin looks me up and down and frowns. I roll my eyes, cross my arms, and look at my feet. I let the hair fall from my mouth.

"Guys, I think I'm gonna sit this one out. I'll let someone else win for once," I hear Austin say. Wait, what? Why is he sitting this one out? Why?! He comes over and sits down beside me.

"Hey," he says to me. He doesn't call me whore. He doesn't call me Ally. He doesn't call me Als. He just says hey. I don't answer. I continue staring at the ground. He sighs. We stay silent for about fifteen minutes as everyone drinks themselves sick. Then he puts his arm around me.

"Well, babe, what do you say we go back into that room over there and...?" He points to a door on the other side of the clubhouse that I'd never noticed before. It takes me a minute to realize what he's talking about. I shake my head, still refusing to speak. A thoughtful look crosses his face. "At least talk to me."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because I want you to get over this. It really isn't that hard to say four little words," he tells me.

"You called me _weak_," I spit. "And if there's one thing I'm not, it's _weak_."

_You tell him! Good job!_

"I never called you weak," he says. I look him straight in the eye.

"That's a damn lie," I tell him. "You said that just last night."

"Okay, okay, but I haven't said it since then," he says, apparently proud of that. I roll my eyes and look back over to the other idiotic boys. I see one of them—who I remember as Scooby—retch into the trash can below him.

"Ally, seriously, can we talk?" he asks.

_He's just trying to pull you back in. Don't fall for it! He's trying to prove that you're weak. Show him that you're a strong woman!_

"No," I tell him. "You're just trying to rope me back in."

"Ally, why do you keep staying stuff like this?" he asks, holding up his hands. "Do you see a rope?"

"Again, it's a metaphor," I tell him in a 'duh' tone.

"Would you stop using them? Because I obviously don't understand them," he says irritatedly.

"Well, I'm sorry that you're an _idiot_," I snap.

"Okay, that was rude," he tells me. I shrug.

"Well, guess what?" I ask. "Not a fuck was given." I stand up straight. "Fuck you. Fuck your friends. Fuck all the people in this room! Except Trish and Dez. They're pretty cool but other than them, fuck all of you!" I walk out of the room with my bag slung over my shoulder. I walk against the bitter cold back towards the school grounds.

That's the thing about Miami. When it gets cold, _if _it gets cold, it gets _cold. _And I mean, _freezing _cold. Like, negative ten cold. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe.

As soon as I'm on the school grounds, I hear footsteps on the black pavement behind me.

"What?" I spit, turning on Austin.

"Can we talk?" he asks. I wish he would stop asking me that.

"Fine. We can talk at our French lesson after school," I finally agree. I walk to the school and in the doors. I hear his footsteps, again, echoing behind me in the empty hallway. I guess he's coming back to class.

"Ooh," most of the people say as Austin and I walk into French together. "Uh oh!" someone calls. Someone whistles. Not a regular whistle. Like, a wolf whistle.

"Nice of you two to finally show up... _thirty... minutes... late..._" Ms. Moreau snaps. "Take your seats." She sounds so cold today. I wonder why. Austin and I sit down beside each other. Someone taps my shoulder. I don't bother looking behind me.

"Austin fucked Ally!" someone calls from the back of the room.

"Mr. Johnson! Watch your mouth in my classroom!" Ms. Moreau exclaims.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse my _French_. Oh! See what I did there? See what I did there?" the boy asks. I hear high fives from behind me. The person behind me keeps tapping me. They tap me all throughout the period. At the end when the bell rings, I finally turn around.

"What?" I ask through clenched teeth.

"You've fucked Austin. Why not me?" the brown-haired boy asks.

"Maybe because I don't know you," I tell him.

"You're not denying that you fucked Austin," he says with a smirk.

"Well, I didn't fuck Austin," I snap.

"Dude, we didn't fuck," Austin says, turning around. I stand up and run to my next class quickly. After chorus, I run to gym, my bag flying behind me. As soon as I get there, Austin moves from his spot higher up on the bleachers over to me.

"Yes?" I ask.

"We need to talk. Like, now," he tells me.

"No. We agreed to after school and I'm sticking to that time," I say.

"Ally, please," he says, staring into my eyes with his dreamy own.

_Don't talk to him now. You both agreed to later._

Shut up, Ms. Pennyworth.

"Later," I tell him. He sighs and goes back up to the top of the bleachers. After gym, Austin decides that he wants to ride home with me today. How fun. We stand on the brick wall, waiting for my mom.

"So," Austin says, breaking the silence. Of course my mom chose today to come late. The good thing is: I'll probably be getting my license in a few days so I can come to the parking lot and go straight home.

"So," I say.

"Look," he starts. "I—"

"Wait until we get to my house," I say, making sure no one else is around us.

"But—"

"Just wait," I hiss. He raises his hands in surrender.

"Sorry," he mutters. We plunge into another few minutes of awkward silence. My mom finally shows up.

"Mrs. Dawson, can I ride home with you?" Austin asks.

"Of course you can, sweetie. Anything for my daughter's little boyfriend," my mom says with a smile to him. We still haven't told her that we're not exactly together anymore. I'd better end this soon or I'll spend the rest of my life being called "whore" and "babe" by the same person. Because I know Austin won't end it just so he can mess with me. I sigh. "What's wrong, Ally?" my mom asks me. I shake my head.

"Nothing, Mom," I answer. She glances at me out of the corner of her eye and continues home. Austin's so quiet that I forget he's even back there until he opens the door to get out. He twiddles with his thumbs as we walk up to my room.

"What's got you so nervous?" I ask as we walk through my door. He lies down on my bed.

"Can we talk now? We're at your house," he tells me. Yeah, that was the agreement. We could talk when we got to my house. I glance at my open door and walk over to it. I shut it slowly.

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"Well, everyone thinks that we fucked so..." he trails off.

"Yeah, so?" I ask.

"Well, we either need to make it true or—"

"Excuse me?" I cut him off. He smiles awkwardly. "I'll go for the latter."

"The latter?" he asks.

"The second choice," I tell him.

"The second choice is for you to suck my dick," he says. I slam my fist down on his stomach.

"I'm not giving you a blow job," I say firmly as he clutches his stomach.

"Don't worry. I was just joking..." he tells me. He lies back down. "Even though you'll have to do it someday," he adds quickly, running his words together. I bring my fist back up and he doubles over to protect his stomach. I slowly let my fist drop back down to my bed. He lies back down again.

"Okay, no, really. We need to find out a way to make them believe the truth," he says.

"Yes, because that'll be so easy," I mutter. Austin takes out his phone and that reminds me of something. I walk over to my laptop and open it.

"Hey, Ally?" Austin asks. I glance at him.

"Yes, Austin?"

"What's your WiFi password?" he asks. I roll my eyes.

"Why should I tell you?" I joke, turning back to my laptop screen. I type in the URL and press the "enter" key. Suddenly, arms encircle my waist.

"Because I might just have to do something like this if you don't," he whispers seductively into my ear, making a shiver roll down my spine.

The tip of his nose traces down my neck and my body feels tingly. He bites the lobe of my ear softly and tugs on it. He turns me around and leans against me so that I'm trapped between him and my desk. He stares into my eyes and I can actually _see _the seductive look on his face now. He leans down to kiss me and I try to lean back but my head soon bumps into the wall. We're inches away now. A small whimper escapes my lips.

"Why are you so scared, whore? This can't be the first time something like this has happened. Plus, I've kissed you before," he whispers, my nose now filled with his minty breath. We're about a millimeter apart now.

"The password is the same as the name of it!" I finally exclaim. He pulls away immediately but he still keeps me pushed up against my desk. He types it into his phone and looks back to me. He puts his phone on my desk and brings his face closer to me again.

"It says it isn't right," he tells me. I pick up his phone and look at it. He's connected. He smiles evilly and I put his phone in his jacket pocket.

"Go sit down. We'll start studying in a second. I just have to check something," I say, shoving him off of me and turning back around. I hear him plop back down on my bed as he surfs the web via mobile. I look at my street team page. My "fans" have dropped down to a low number. A very low number at that. Exactly _one _fan. There's only one regular visitor now. I find myself wondering who this person is. I make a new post.

**(Bold=Ally; **_Italics=The Other Person)_

**Who are you?**

The person replies anonymously.

_Someone you know._

I push my eyebrows together in confusion.

**Be specific please?**

They comment almost as soon I post my own reply.

_Alright, I'm... human._

I roll my eyes.

**Can you at least tell me about yourself?**

They take about a minute to reply.

_I go to your school..._

I sigh in frustration at their difficult-self.

**That narrows it down to about two thousand people... Thanks for the clarification on who you are.**

I look behind me to make sure Austin is peeking over my shoulder or anything. No, he's too busy enjoying the free WiFi.

_I'm a boy. Does that help?_

**Alright. Now about one thousand people. More please?**

_You see me a lot._

**Where? In the hallways? In class? Around the mall? Around all of Miami?**

_Places..._

**Will you please just tell me who you are?!**

_Haha, why would I tell you though if you already know who I am...?_

I don't reply. If their goal was to make me frustrated, then they succeeded. I slam my laptop shut and turn to Austin.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" I ask. He looks up from his phone. He sits up and shifts his eyes from side to side.

"I, um... I wanted to talk... about... us," he finally gets out. Maybe he's going to break up with me! I shoot across my room and sit down beside him.

"Go on. Lay it on me. I can take it," I say excitedly. He looks down.

"I don't... I don't like this," he says.

"You don't like what?" I ask.

"Being mean to you. I mean, I was used to it before but now it just feels... I don't know. It just feels... different... Like, it feels... wrong... y'know?" he asks.

_Keep hanging on to that little thread of hope that he'll break up with you! He still might!_

"Do I have to say the words?" I ask.

"It would help," he says a little sadly. It almost breaks my heart to hear that voice. But I can't give in. I'm not weak. I reach into my book bag and pull out my French book.

"Let's start studying," I say, standing up and walking to the other side of the room. I lean against my balcony window and realize that it's freezing cold. I pull back the curtain and look out. I see—and I can't believe this—_snow!_ "Austin, it's snowing!" I exclaim. It's a gentle snow but it seems to be getting thicker and thicker. Austin rushes to my side and looks out too.

"Maybe it'll stick and we'll have a snow day!" he says excitedly. I let out a one-beat laugh.

"Have you forgotten where we're at? We're in Miami freaking Florida. One of the hottest places. It won't stick," I say. I look at his hopeful face. "I mean, uh, what do I know? It _could _stick." The excitement flickers back across his face and I smile. I reopen my French book to a certain page and hand it to him. He looks down at it.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asks.

"Read the poem to me," I command. See, the whole entire book is in French. Even the title page and the table of contents. He laughs.

"You're joking, right?" he asks. I shake my head. He sighs and struggles to read the poem. "Uh... je... je..." He sighs. "Ally, how about you read this poem to me then translate it for me?" I take the book from him and look down at it. I lead him to my bed, sit down, and read it out loud to him. He sits down beside me.

"_Je T'aime, Je T'aime_," I read him the title.

_Je t'aime_

_Je t'aime_

_Mais vous n'êtes pas le mien_

_Je t'aime_

_Je t'aime_

_Pouvons-nous revenir en arrière?_

_Je t'aime_

_Je t'aime_

_Quand vous venez de me pardonner?_

_Je t'aime_

_Je t'aime_

_Et que tout cela se dérober_

_Je t'aime_

_Je t'aime_

_Si vous le faites, je vais dire..._

_Je t'aime_

_Je t'aime_

_Pour toujours et toujours..._

I then realize what this poem is about. Austin watches me, waiting for me to translate.

"Well, what does it say?" he asks.

"Nothing. Let's translate another poem," I say, starting to flip the page. He stops my hand and turns the page back to _Je T'aime, Je T'aime._

"What does it say?" he demands. I sigh and read him the poem in English.

_I love you_

_I love you_

_But you are not mine_

_I love you_

_I love you_

_Can we just turn back time?_

_I love you_

_I love you_

_When will you just forgive me?_

_I love you_

_I love you_

_And let this all slip away_

_I love you_

_I love you_

_If you do, I will say..._

_I love you_

_I love you_

_Forever and always... _**(1)**

I flip the page, looking for something else to read. Austin shifts his weight uncomfortably and rests his hands in his lap.

"Now I get why you didn't..." he trails off. I flip through the pages before I find one of my favorite poems...

"This is called _La Façon Dont Je Ressens Pour Toi_. A few years ago, someone put this poem in my gym locker on Valentine's Day. In English, of course. I really thought it was accidentally put into the wrong locker but it said 'To Ally Dawson' on the front. There's no way to misinterpret that, I don't think," I tell him.

_J'aime la façon dont tu souris_

_J'aime la façon dont vous vous moquez_

_J'aime la façon dont vous parlez_

_Je l'aime quand je regarde dans tes yeux_

_Et je sais que je ne serai pas jugé_

_J'aime le confort et la façon dont je peux exprimer mon opinion_

_J'aime être ensemble, parler_

_Et être seul ensemble_

_Mais j'aime être votre ami_

_Et j'espère qu'un jour nous pourrons être plus_

_Mais jusque-là_

_Voulez-vous être ma valentine?_

"Now—" Austin starts.

"—Read it in English," I finish for him. "I know."

_I love the way you smile_

_I love the way you laugh_

_I love the way you talk_

_I love it when I look into your eyes_

_And I know that I wont be judged_

_I love the comfort and how I can speak my mind_

_I love being together, talking_

_And being alone together_

_But I love being your friend_

_And I hope one day we can be more_

_But until then_

_Will you be my valentine?_

"Did you ever find out who sent you that?" he asks me. I shake my head.

"Nope," I say. He looks around the room and I narrow my eyes at him. "Why? Do you know?" I ask him. He nods sheepishly. "Well, tell me," I demand, getting excited to know who my secret crush was.

"I don't know..." he says as if he solemnly swore not to tell. Then a smirk begins to play on his lips.

"What?" I ask, staring at his perfect lips. The smirk, I mean.

_Oh, don't lie. You know you just wanted an excuse to look at his lips anyway._

I look up into his eyes and I see the idea. Oh, God. What does he have in mind?

"What are you thinking about?" I ask, suspicious. He strokes his chin as if he has a beard, pretending to be deep in thought. He looks up.

"Hm..." he says. "I'll tell you if you give me a kiss." He raises his eyebrows.

"I can live without knowing," I say nonchalantly, flipping the page in my French book.

"Alright," he says, shrugging, "I'll just tell him you aren't interested." He sighs loudly. "Poor little guy..."

_You don't need to know._

Yes, I do.

I grab Austin's shirt, turning him toward me, and crush my lips against his. I've been wanting to figure this out for a long time. A _long _time. I pull away from him as soon as possible and bounce in anticipation.

"Well, who is it?!" I ask. He shrugs.

"I dunno," he tells me. I stare hard at him. "Okay, okay, me and my friends dared some kid to do it." I roll my eyes.

"That was stupid," I mutter. I glance at my phone. "Well, it's time for you to go," I tell him, standing and pulling him to his feet. I push him out of my room and close the door, turning and leaning against it.

I shouldn't have kissed him. I really could have gone without knowing. I sling my head back once against the door. I walk over to my bed, picking up my French book. I shove it into my bag and pick up my songbook.

_Dear Diary/Songbook,_

_Okay, you're going to be mad at me but... I kissed Austin. I really wanted to find out who the boy was. You're probably wondering who I'm talking about. Remember that time I told you about finding a note with a poem on it in my gym locker that one Valentine's Day? Well, it turns out that Austin and his friends got some kid to do it. I feel like such an idiot for even falling for something like that. Anyway, I'd better get ready for bed. It's already getting cold so I better double up. Remember? My dad doesn't like to turn the heat up since it costs extra? Well, my mom might turn the heat up since my dad is at another accordion convention... Anyway, I'll write in you later. Goodnight._

_Love, Ally_

I place my book on my bed and walk over to my bathroom. I pull on my bright pink pajamas with flying, orange pigs on them. They seem to be the warmest of my pajamas. Then I pull on a green pair of pajamas with my initials printed all over them in many different colors. But when I begin to sweat already, I take off the second pair of pajamas and throw them back into my drawer. Ew, it has my sweat on it though. I take it out of my drawer and throw it in my dirty clothes basket.

I walk out of my bathroom, yawning. I almost run into someone. Wait... who would be in my room? I look up and see Austin.

"Austin? What are you doing here?" I ask, trying to push him back out of my room again. I notice that he's shivering a little. Nonetheless, he just chuckles as I push him down the stairs.

"Ally, what are you doing?" Mom asks me.

"Don't you think it's time for Austin to go home?" I ask her casually as I stop pushing Austin. She smiles at me.

"Honey, do you remember that blizzard that was supposed to happen yesterday?" she asks me. I nod. "Well, the blizzard is happening now." I look out the window and I can't see anything. The snow is built up against the window. "And all of the roads are closed. The blizzard is supposed to last for a few days which means your father's plane will be delayed." She frowns. "On the bright side, you don't have school tomorrow! _And _your boyfriend will get to stay over!" she exclaims excitedly. I sigh.

"Yay," I say as excitedly as I can.

**1.****This isn't a real poem which is why it sucks xD**

** poem is The Way I Feel About You by T. J. M. I found it on My Word Wizard . Com.**

**I just realized that in chapter 11, Ally said "Bye, Blondie" and he wasn't even there xD You're probably wondering why... In a previous version, before I edited it, Austin came and sat down beside Ally.**

**LoveIsMyCure, omg what? My stories inspired your story? Omg, what is—what is this feeling... inside my heart...? It's... it's... IT'S PRIDE. I FEEL SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. OMG. :'D**

**Jake, if you're going to review and bash my story, at least use correct grammar and speak in complete sentences instead of making every word its own sentence. Thanks.**

**Guest, they still like each other but Ally is mad at Austin. Austin just doesn't realize why. And I promise, you'll all find out why soon.**

**Storiesyeah, omg. When I read your review, first, I laughed then I thought of all the fangirls on Twitter. Like, the ones who are like, "Omg. _ and _ happened. Omg. Lemme go cry in the corner." That's seriously the first thing I thought of xD**

**Review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	3. Chapter 3

"Well I'm glad I get to spend a few nights with my baby," Austin says, resting his arm around my shoulders and kissing my cheek.

"Aw, you two are so adorable together!" my mom squeals. "You make a really cute couple."

"_You know, we would make a really cute couple."_

It's what Austin said that one time I had to go home with him after school. Suddenly, I remember something that I can use as an excuse. I didn't take a shower before I got into my pajamas.

"Yeah, well your baby needs to take a shower," I say, pulling his arm from around my shoulders. My mom smiles at us and leaves the room.

"Nice flying pigs, by the way, whore," he tells me. I roll my eyes and walk up the stairs. "Your ass could use some improvement too." I walk into my bathroom, lock the door behind me, and pull off my pajamas. I wash quickly so Austin doesn't mess up anything in my room while I'm in here. As soon as I get out, I hear a big crash. I know him way too well. I wrap my towel tightly around me and run out into my room.

"What did you do?" I ask as soon as I'm out. I don't see a thing out of place though.

"I knew you'd come out to see what happened. I kind of thought you'd put _something _on though. I guess I underestimated you, dear whore," Austin says from behind me. I turn around and realize how close he is. I notice he has a smirk on his face. "You know," he says, raising an eyebrow, "if I wanted to, I could just rip that towel right off of you."

He tilts his head a little. He's still smirking and his eyebrow is still raised. He takes a step toward me and I take two steps back. The smirk drops from his face and he focuses on determining his next move. He takes another step forward and I take another two back. He rushes forward and wraps his arms around my waist; my arms are also under his. His finger slips through the knot of the towel and he tugs at it.

"You wouldn't dare," I say, trying to reach up and stop his hand. The smirk returns as he loosens the knot. I squirm around in his arms. He keeps loosening it. "Stop," I say firmly, still squirming. The knot doesn't even exist anymore.

The only thing holding my towel on is Austin's body pressed against mine. I stop squirming. If I squirm too much, it'll come off. He releases me and I immediately grab for my towel, knotting it back together. I run back to my bathroom. I pull my pajamas on quickly and walk back out slowly. Austin's lying on my bed. He sits up at the sound of my door.

"So where am I sleeping?" he asks.

"You can sleep on the floor or the couch," I answer.

"Aw, can't I sleep in your bed?" he asks. "That's where all the other guys sleep, right?"

"Well, if you're sleeping in my bed then I'm sleeping on the couch," I tell him.

"But wouldn't you be a lot... warmer sleeping with me?" he asks with a wink. I stare at him.

"You're sleeping on the couch."

"Fine," he grumbles.

He stands up. I follow him down the stairs. I walk to the refrigerator and open it. I soon feel Austin's arms slither around my waist. I groan.

"What'cha doin'?" he asks.

"Getting something to drink," I mutter.

"Ooh!" he exclaims as I take out my Rockstar drink.

"What?" I ask.

"Can I have that?" he asks, pointing to my drink.

"No," I say, opening it.

"Well, can I have some of it?" he asks me, following me up to my room.

"Hm, let me think about it," I tell him. I take a long sip. It stretches on and on.

"Well can I?" he asks, getting impatient.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," I say. I continue my sip. I can feel the can getting lighter. Austin stares at the can. "You want this?" I ask, raising my eyebrows tauntingly. He nods. "Are you sure?" He nods again.

"Ally, you don't know how bad I want that," he tells me. "Those things are awesome. They're almost as good as vodka." I roll my eyes.

"Alright, I'll give you some then," I say. "Right after I drink the last few swallows." I bring the can to my lips and Austin tackles me. I giggle.

"Ally, please!" he exclaims, trying to grab it.

We roll around on the floor for a bit and I try my best to keep the Rockstar upright. When we both get tired of it, we stop rolling around. He's sitting on top of me now and my arm is outstretched, trying to keep the Rockstar away from him. I'm giggling like an idiot.

"Can I pretty please, with pickles on top, have some?" he asks me with puppy dog eyes, poking out his bottom lip. I sigh and hold the can above me so he can grab it.

"Thank you. All I wanted was a sip. I don't see why you made such a big deal out of it," he says with a smile.

He takes a sip like he said he wanted and hands it back to me. I take it and begin to drink it again. We stand up and sit down on my bed.

"But now I'll have to get back at you for keeping it from me for so long," he says mischievously. I eye him suspiciously. He reaches down and tickles me like there's no tomorrow.

"Hey!" I exclaim, giggling loudly. "Stop! I'm choking on my Rockstar!" I laugh so hard, I cry. He stops tickling me abruptly.

He leans down so he can whisper, "Ah, I knew you'd choke on me someday," in my ear. I don't get this at first. I slowly understand it though.

"Oh, ha, ha, very funny," I say sarcastically. I look down at my Rockstar. "I didn't even want to drink all of this," I say with a small laugh. I hold it out to him and he gladly takes it.

"That one was pretty good though, wasn't it?" he asks me, taking a sip.

"That _was _pretty clever," I admit. "Hang on a second. I'll be back." I walk into my bathroom and close the door.

**Austin's POV:**

What the hell did I do...? I mean, I really love her and this blizzard could have been a good thing if I hadn't... done whatever I'd done. I really just do not know. Maybe I should ask her. Or would that be a bad move? I can see her chewing me out now.

"You should know what you did since you did it! I'll let you figure it out on your own," she would say.

I just wish I knew what the hell I did. I mean, it must be pretty bad since she hasn't already forgiven me. Usually, she'd forgive me not long after it happened... but it's been two whole months. I don't even remember doing anything bad. I set the Rockstar down on the floor and bury my face in my hands.

"God, tell me what I did. _Please_," I say into my hands. I can feel the tears coming. But I hear something before even one can fall.

"What's wrong?" Ally asks me. I look up, removing signs of any tears.

"Nothing," I say casually with a shrug. She eyes me. I lie back on her bed, breaking our gaze. Suddenly, I feel her small amount of weight beside me on the bed. She crawls up so that she can look right down at me.

"Are you sure?" she asks suspiciously. I nod.

"I'm fine, whore," I say, trying to get her off my back. She raises her eyebrows.

"Alright," she mutters. "Fine." She sits back on her knees, still watching me closely.

"I thought you were mad at me," I finally say. She rolls her eyes.

**Ally's POV:**

"I am," I assure him. "I was just... giving you a break."

"Why are you so mad at me anyway?" he asks me. I scoff.

"You should know. You _did _do it, you know," I tell him.

"I knew you'd say that," he mutters. I ignore this.

"Do you really not remember what you did?" I ask, my voice and expression softening. He shakes his head.

"I don't remember a thing," he tells me, his voice barely a whisper. I stand up.

"I can't even believe you," I snap. I shake my head.

"Ally, you can't blame me for not being able to remember something. For all I know, I could have been high," he says.

"Oh, so you, not only, drink but you also get high?" I ask him. I shake my head again. "Pathetic. Just pathetic," I spit.

"It was a joke, Als. I was trying to lighten the mood," he tells me. "Can you just tell me what I did? So that I can _try _to find out a way to make it better?"

"No," I say. "Like I said, you should know."

"Ally," he says firmly. "I obviously can't fucking remember. Why can't you just fucking tell me?!"

"Because you yell at me like that," I say as calmly as I can.

I've learned not to raise my voice at him. That'll just make him angrier. That lesson was learned the hard way... I sigh.

"Look. You should remember soon," I tell him. This time, it's his turn to sigh. I look down, trying to find a way to brighten his mood. I guess if I forgave him, he would feel a lot better...

_But you can't._

And why not?

_Because you know what he did!_

Yeah, but he didn't mean to.

_Whatever. Do whatever you want to do then._

I lean up and kiss his cheek. He needs to know that I still love him. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. I nuzzle my head into his neck.

"I do still love you, you know," I promise him. He doesn't move at all. I climb into his lap and look up at him. I give him a small smile. He hesitates but returns it. He looks around.

"Can I...?" he trails off, gesturing to my bed. I glance at it.

"You better be glad it's freezing," I tell him, crawling under my covers. He smiles and follows me under them, wrapping his arms around me. I sink into his chest and realize that he's warmer than my whole house. He's like my own personal heater...

* * *

_I wake up colder than I went to sleep. I'm sweating though at the same time. I open my eyes and realize I'm naked... and lying on top of a naked Austin... Suddenly, his eyes open._

"_Last night was amazing," he tells me, breathlessly._

"_L-last night?" I ask. "Wh-what happened last night?" He raises his eyebrows and winks at me._

"_Don't you remember?" he asks me, a completely serious look on his face. "You said that you regretted ever being mad at me and that you wanted to make it up to me."_

"_What?" I ask. I shake my head. "I would never do something like what you're implying. No. No. I refuse to believe it." He chuckles._

"_Then why are our clothes over there on the floor?" he asks, gesturing to our clothes that were messily thrown across the room in a heap. "And why are you on top of me?" He gestures to me. I stand up, taking my blanket with me._

"_No. This isn't happening," I say quietly to myself. "No. This is a dream. It has to be." Jenna walks into my room. She runs and jumps on Austin's exposed body._

"_I love you, Daddy," she says, hugging him. I push my eyebrows together in confusion._

"_Daddy?" I echo. "No, Jenna. Austin isn't your daddy. You're my cousin."_

"_Mommy, I'm not your cousin," she tells me. My door opens again and a large can of Rockstar waddles __through the door. Then I wake up._

"Alright. No more Rockstars before bed," I murmur, opening my eyes.

I see that I really am on top of Austin. I swallow, afraid. I look down and see that his shirt is gone. I brace myself and take a deep breath.

"No," I whisper.

I look down at my own body. I'm still wearing my shirt. I roll off of Austin and pull the blanket up. I look down and see that Austin's pants are still on. I let out a sigh of relief and let my head fall back on my pillow.

"Thank God."

"For what?" Austin asks, rolling over to face me. I shake my head and shiver.

"How are you just sleeping like that? Without a shirt?" I ask, still shivering.

"We already knew I was hot," he says in a 'duh' tone. I roll my eyes and stand up. "Where ya going?" he asks me.

"To put on another layer," I tell him. "You're getting on the floor."

"What? Why?" he asks, standing up. I shake my head, not wanting to relive my dream. I walk into my bathroom without answering him. I take off my shirt, put on a tank top, and put my shirt back on. I take off my pants, slip on some shorts, and pull my pants back on. I walk back to my room and see that Austin is still on my bed. I point to the floor.

"Get on the floor," I say firmly.

"Oh, you really think we're gonna get that rough?" he asks me. I roll my eyes. "Help me up," he says lazily. I roll my eyes again. I walk over to him, grab his hand, and stand him up. Once he's up, he just drops to the floor, dragging me with him. Of course. He looks around.

"What?" I ask, climbing to my feet.

"Will you check and make sure there's no monster under your bed?" he asks, glancing to his left, under my bed. I raise an eyebrow.

"You're joking, right?" I ask him. He nods.

"Of course I am," he says in a high-pitched voice. I get down on my hands and knees then lie flat on my stomach.

"This is ridiculous," I mutter, looking under my bed. I don't see any "monster."

"A-any monsters?" Austin stutters.

"Hm..." I say. Using my arms and trying not to use my legs, I pull myself under the bed. "Austin! There's a monster! Help me!" I giggle quietly. Austin grabs my feet and drags me out.

"Oh, my God, are you okay?" he asks, worriedly glancing under the bed. I'm laughing too hard to answer. "What?" he asks.

"Blondie, monsters don't exist," I say between my laughter. He rolls his eyes.

"So there are no monsters under there?" he asks me.

"No monsters," I promise. I walk to my closet and realize I'm too short to reach the top shelf. "Come here please." Austin walks in my closet and I point to the top shelf. "Get that blanket."

"Are you really too short to reach it?" he asks with a chuckle.

"Shut up. Just get the damned blanket," I snap. He reaches up and gets it down easily. We walk back into my room and I throw one of my pillows on the floor.

"Goodnight," I say, climbing back into bed.

"Night," he says, still chuckling. I roll my eyes, roll over, and fall back to sleep.

In the morning, I awake in a cold sweat from yet another dream about Blondie. I sit up and look down at him, sleeping peacefully. I realize that I never got a real answer as to why he wasn't wearing a shirt. I guess it doesn't really matter. I watch his chest rise and fall as he inhales and exhales. I watch his mouth as he lets out quiet snores. Suddenly, he sneezes.

Typical Blondie.

I pick up my pillow and throw it at him. He wakes with a start. I giggle as I watch him thrash around on the floor. When he stops thrashing around, he looks up at me and yawns.

"Oh, mornin', whore," he says. I stand up and walk over to my door. I walk down the stairs and the smell of breakfast hits my nose. I guess it's because Austin is here. We never have breakfast.

"Good morning, Ally," my mom says brightly, handing me a plate with my breakfast on it. I sit down at the island with it.

"Morning," I mutter.

"What's wrong?" she asks me. I shake my head.

"It's nothing," I tell her. But it is something. There's a devil upstairs in my room... Then it hits me. Austin is alone in my room. "Hang on a second, Mom." I run up the stairs and see that Austin is still on the floor. He's fallen back to sleep. I kneel by his side, ready to wake him up again. But then I see something that sends bad memories rushing back to me.

The scar running down his face.

It's not as bad and obvious as it used to be but it's still there. I just stare at it. The guilt inside of me is so bad. I just can't believe I was the cause of that. Tears roll silently down my face. A small sob escapes my lips and Austin wakes up. I turn away from him and stand up, wiping my face.

"Breakfast is ready," I tell him. I walk back to my door and down the hall to the top of the stairs. I wait for Austin there. When my face is dry, I turn back around to see if he's coming. He's right behind me. I lead him down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Austin," my mom says in the same bright tone. She hands him a stack of pancakes with eggs and bacon on the side. He takes it and sits down at the island.

"Thank you, Mrs. Dawson," he says, smiling. He eats the pancakes slowly which surprises me. Pancakes are his favorite food. I expected him to be shoving them down his throat. I shake my head to clear the thought and sit down beside him. I look down at my breakfast and start on my pancakes. After breakfast, I just sit on my window sill, my book propped up against my legs, a pencil in my hand. I stare out the window.

"How is it even snowing?" I ask myself quietly, dumbfounded by this fact. I hear someone clear their throat and I look up. Austin. "What?" I ask.

"No need to be so rude," he tells me.

"Sorry," I murmur. I close my book and set it on the floor. I resume looking out the window. He looks out the window too.

"I can't believe it's snowing," he whispers. I turn my head and see that his scar is right in front of my face. I swallow the lump in my throat. Or I try to. I look back out the window but I don't look right out. I look at the window itself and see Austin's reflection as he stares in awe at the still-falling snow. And his scar. Why is it suddenly bothering me so much?

**TotodileLove, it's a secret ;)**

**HG Just Because, xD**

**Hannahb, awesome! And I tried to put a few hints in this chapter. If you didn't notice them, go back and read it again. Maybe you'll pick them up :)**

**JNR1230, they still love each other but Austin did something bad. It'll be a secret for now but probably not for long. If you've read Keep Away From This Girl, you'll know that I'm not good at keeping secrets xD**

**Supersweetp (Parveena), aw, thank you :) and what? My story inspired you to write a one-shot? Omg, there goes that pride feeling in my heart again :'D And aw, thank you (again) :D**

**Omg, I swear, I love all of you. It really makes me happy to know that my stories inspire yours sometimes. I just feel so... ASDFGHJKL HAPPY :D Anyhoodles, review :D**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	4. Chapter 4

"What's wrong?" Austin asks, looking over at me.

"Does that... does that still... hurt?" I ask, running my finger down my own cheek. He knows what I mean.

"Oh, this old thing?" he asks, pointing to his cheek. I nod. "Nah, not really."

"Not really?" I ask.

"Well, it hurts from time to time, I guess," he tells me, shrugging. "But not really." Why do I still feel bad about it then? I glance at my laptop.

"Excuse me," I say, standing up. I walk over to my laptop and open it. I open my Google Chrome browser and type in the URL. A screen with words I don't want to see pops up.

_Unable to connect to the Internet  
Google Chrome can't display the web page because your computer isn't connected to the Internet._

Kill me now. The blizzard must have knocked the internet connection out.

_Well, duh, Ally._

Shut up.

I close my laptop and I hear my phone ring.

"Hello?" I answer it.

"Hey!" Trish says. "I've been trying to call you all night!"

"Sorry, I was..." I glance at Austin. "... busy."

"Busy? What do you mean busy?" she asks.

"I was most likely—"

"Who are you talking to?" Austin's nosey-self asks, suddenly behind me.

"Is that Austin? How did he get there when there's a freaking blizzard going on outside?" she asks me.

"Well, he was... he was here when it started," I tell her. "So now he's stuck here for a few days since the roads are closed."

"Your boyfriend is stuck at your house with you?" she asks. "Aw, how romantic."

"Trish, have you really forgotten what happened?" I ask her exasperatedly.

"Oh. Yeah, sorry. I just wish I could at least talk to my Dezzy-Roo. He lost his cell phone last week and every time I call his house, the answering machine picks up," she explains to me.

"_She _knows what happened too?" Austin asks me.

"Well, I couldn't just _not _tell her. She's my best friend," I tell him. He stalks out of my room, muttering about something. I sigh.

"What's wrong?" Trish asks me. That's the third time someone's asked me that today.

"Austin doesn't remember what happened," I whisper into my phone, "and he keeps getting mad because I won't tell him."

"Why won't you tell him?" Trish asks.

"Because—"

Suddenly, the line goes dead. One of must have lost signal. Awesome... not. I sigh. I wonder where Austin went. I set down my phone and walk outside my room.

"Austin..." I call softly. "Austin..." I feel like I lost my puppy or something.

"What are you doing, honey?" my mom asks me, popping up out of nowhere. I spin around.

"Nothing. I just lost my puppy," I say. When I realize what I said, I let out a small giggle.

"Is that what couples are calling each other now? Their puppy?" she asks me.

"Yeah, Mom," I say with a small laugh. She looks around.

"Well, last time I saw him, he was in the living room," she tells me.

"Thanks," I say. I walk off toward the living room. I see Austin sitting on the couch, hugging his knees. "Austin..." I say again. He looks up. His face is kind of wet.

"Yeah?" he asks, wiping his face.

"A-are you alright?" I ask. He nods slightly and rests his chin on his knees. I swallow and go sit down beside him. "I-I don't like seeing you cry..." I tell him.

"I'm not crying," he lies. I try to look at him and he buries his face in his knees. I'm going to forgive him. Well, I'm going to at least tell him what he did.

_No!_

Why not?!

_Because he doesn't deserve to know!_

He's freaking crying! Just let me tell him!

_No! I forbid you!_

I open my mouth to explain to Austin what happened but suddenly, it closes and I can't open it back.

Really, Mrs. Pennyworth? Really?

_Well, you were going to tell him and I can't let that happen._

After a few seconds of struggling with my own mouth, I finally just give up. I sigh and put an arm around Austin's shoulders. He immediately turns, pushing his feet off the couch, and melts into my arms, wrapping both of his arms around me. I hesitate but finally put my other arm around his shoulders. He cries softly into my shoulder. I can't stand to see him like this. Please, Mrs. Pennyworth.

_Hm, lemme think... No!_

Why do you have to be so mean?!

_..._

I try once more to open my mouth. It's sad how much power a figment of my own imagination has over me. I mean, shouldn't I be able to control it? Austin's hold on me gets a bit tighter. Tears of my own roll slowly down my cheeks. I tighten my own grip on his neck as we soak each others' shoulders.

"Ally," Austin says, breaking the silence. His voice is so small and... fragile. I can't... "Whatever I did, that's so horrible..." he trails off.

I try to ask what he's saying but I still can't open my mouth. Ugh! I bury my face into his hot neck and close my eyes. He never finishes what he started saying. We just plunge into another few minutes of silence. I sigh into his neck.

I can't do this. I'll be sobbing in a few seconds if I let this go on. I pull away from him. I brush his messy, dirty blond hair out of his eyes and kiss the top of his head. He wipes his eyes and smiles at me. Sadly. I wipe my own eyes.

"Why are you crying?" he asks as if he just noticed that I was doing so. Maybe he really did just notice.

"I don't like seeing you cry," I answer simply.

"Can we watch some movies?" he asks me, changing the subject. I look around.

"Movies?" I ask. He nods.

"Like, Christmas movies," he specifies.

"Uh, sure," I say. We watch Disney Christmas movies—new and old—such as A Christmas Carol, the one that came out in 2009; Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas; The Muppet Christmas Carol; Whinnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year; Santa Buddies. Now we're watching The Nightmare Before Christmas which is basically a cross between a Christmas movie and a Halloween movie/musical. Halloween...

"_Want me to show you?" he asked._

"_I'd be fine with you just telling me," I said quietly._

"_It'd be easier to show you," he told me. He took my hand and made me stand up. He pushed me gently against the wall and held my hands above my head. I swallowed._

"_Um… uh… uh… um… um, uh, uh, uh, um," I stuttered. I felt trapped. Then he kissed me full on the lips._

I swallow nervously at the memory and look down. When I look back up, Jack Skellington is on the cliff, singing his heart out. When the movie is over, Austin is asleep. I hear the tape begin to rewind itself and the noise is tiring. My head falls onto Austin's shoulder and I fall asleep myself.

* * *

"_Austin, I'm sorry for being mad at you. It was the biggest mistake of my life and I regret it!" I exclaim as he punches the wall in my room._

"_You're just saying that!" he yells, turning on me. He walks up to me and grabs the collar of my shirt, forcing me to look him directly in the eye. I whimper._

"_I'm not just saying that!" I scream. "I love you!"_

"_Yeah. Sure you do," he says sarcastically. "I'll believe that the day I die." I swallow._

"_Don't you love _me _anymore?" I ask quietly. He just laughs in my face and releases my shirt._

"_Are you crazy?" he asks me._

"_Yeah," I say through clenched teeth, getting angry. "I _am _crazy. I must be crazy if I love an asshole like you." Suddenly, he picks me up and kisses me. I wrap my legs around him, because I don't want to fall, and I kiss him back. I run my fingers furiously through his hair and he tightens his hold on me. He pushes me up against the wall while still holding me. It's funny how a fight turned into... this._

Jack Skellington screams something and I wake up. I look up at Austin and see that he's still asleep. I notice that I can barely breathe. Austin's arms are around my waist and he has a death grip on me. This reminds me of how strong he is. I close my eyes and swallow, tears threatening to fall. I open my eyes and shake his shoulder.

"No, Ally, I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Don't leave!" he exclaims, waking up. He blinks. "Huh?"

"Can you let me go?" I ask, gesturing to his arms.

"Yeah, sorry," he says, releasing me. I take in a deep breath, still holding back the tears. I turn the TV off and we walk up to my room. He gets on the floor and I fall asleep as soon as I'm in my bed and covered up.

* * *

_I wake up outside of my house in very thin clothes. I hug myself, trying to warm myself up. I turn around to walk to my house but... it's not there. It's gone. Nowhere to be found._

"_Mom!" I call. No answer. "Dad!" No answer. "Austin?" Still no answer. My body goes numb and I fall into the snow. I look down a little and see that my body is also turning blue._

_It dawns on me what is happening. I'm freezing to death. Literally. Snow keeps falling and soon I'm covered. But it's okay. Because I can't feel anything. I'm actually incredibly warm now. It's like all of this snow has become a big, white, fluffy bed. I close my eyes._

I wake up shivering. I see that my blanket is covering me yet I'm still freezing. I look down into the pitch darkness where Austin should be and wonder how he keeps himself so warm. My teeth begin chattering.

"A-Austin?" I whisper.

"Yeah?" he asks. I blink, wondering how to ask him to come into my bed.

"I'm cold" is all I say.

"Yeah, and...?" he asks.

"Will you...?" I trail off, hoping he'll understand the awkward question I'm trying to ask. He slides into my bed and I snuggle up to him. I'm instantly warmer. "You're so hot," I say absentmindedly. "I mean, uh, warm and, erm, yeah. I meant... warm."

"I know what you meant," Austin says with a chuckle. "You think I'm sexy. It's okay, Ally. You can admit it." I roll my eyes and bury myself deeper into his warm chest. Soon, I'm asleep.

**Lilly5603, yay! I'm happy that you're happy! :D**

**Tigerab1997, when Ally went on her date with Dez, this dude tried to rape Ally and Austin saved her and after she left, Toby (the rapist dude) pulled out a knife and slashed Austin's face XP**

**Astrawberry11, nopers. We'll find out what he did soon. Promise. I may not get Ally to tell Austin but I'll at least get her to tell all of you. Maybe. I don't know yet.**

**Happygirl759, nopers.**

**AusllyFolive3, aw, thanks and I'm glad that this is one of your favorite stories from me :)**

**Supersweetp, you're welcome and yay! I'm glad you like it :) You're welcome (again) and thank you :)**

**Rosslynch4thewin, it's a secret for now. :P**

**Okay, your guesses are really awesome! … but not even close. Haha, we'll find out what Austin did soon. I promise. And there was another hint in this chapter toward the end. Sorry it's so short! Anyhoodles, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	5. Chapter 5

When I wake up, I'm glad about the way we're facing. Austin's left cheek is pressed against my pillow so I can't see his scar. Geez, that thing is really starting to irk me! It's only when Austin exhales and his breath hits my face that I realize how unbelievably close we are. I blink. I don't want to scoot away from him because then I'll be cold. But I also don't want to stay here because it would be awkward when he wakes up.

How conflicting.

I'll just close my eyes and go back to sleep. That way, he can be awkward alone. I close my eyes and try to relax. As soon as I feel myself drifting off to sleep, Austin's weight shifts on my bed and disappears completely. I open my eyes and see that he's fallen off my bed.

"Smooth, Blondie," I say, peeking over the side. He looks up at me and rolls his eyes.

I stand up and walk over to my window, looking out of it. The snow isn't built up against the window anymore but the ground and the road is still covered in it. The snow has also stopped falling. I turn back to Austin.

"I think we'll be going back to school tomorrow," I tell him as he stands up. He sits down on my bed.

"Aw, darn. I only have one more night with my whore?" he asks. I roll my eyes. He's shown his sad side and now his cocky side is back. Wonderful.

"Only one more night," I confirm. I walk out of my room. Austin follows me. We walk down the stairs side by side. Austin trips on the last step and I laugh. "Again, you're so smooth, Blondie."

"I did that on purpose," he scoffs, standing up.

"Of course you did," I say.

We walk into the kitchen and see plates are already filled with breakfast and sitting on the island. Mom is nowhere to be found.

"Mom!" I call. I look around. "Wait here," I tell Austin.

"Where would I even go?" he asks as I walk into the living room. I ignore him and walk into my dad's study.

"Mom!" I call again. I walk up the stairs and into her room. "Mom?" I ask quietly. I look on her bed and see her fast asleep. She must have come up here after making breakfast and passed out. I walk over to her bed and pull her blanket over her. I smile and walk back to the kitchen.

"Did you find your mom?" Austin asks me. Austin must have ate my breakfast because there are two empty plates on the island now. I sit down beside him.

"She's asleep," I tell him. He pulls the chair I'm sitting on closer to him and puts his arm around my shoulders.

"So, basically, what you're saying is...: we're alone," he says, leaning his head against mine.

"No, basically, what I'm saying is: we're down here and my mom is asleep upstairs," I correct him.

"But you know what that means, right?" he asks me. His arm slides down to my waist. "We can do _whatever_ we _want_."

"If we were to do anything, it would be what you want. Not what I want," I tell him. His free arm comes around my stomach to meet his other arm.

"Please. Anything I wanna do, you'd join in and you know it. If you just looked into my eyes, you would do anything I wanted you to," he says. He lets go of me.

"Sure," I say sarcastically. He turns my face to his and stares at my eyes. I look at the wall behind him.

"Prove it," he says. "Just look into my eyes and deny something I tell you to do." I roll my eyes. "Can't do it?" he asks. I scoff and look up at him. "Now kiss me," he commands simply. I swallow. He leans down.

_Prove him wrong! You can do it!_

There are a few inches between us now. I blink multiple times.

"You ate my breakfast," I blurt out. He raises his eyebrows, still leaning in.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?" he asks.

"Um... uh..." I stutter. I swallow again. "What if I wanted it?" I snap. He smirks and pulls away.

"Stalling, huh?" he asks. "I knew you wouldn't be able to do it."

"Just put a shirt on," I mutter, realizing he's been shirtless since the first night.

"I lost it," he tells me.

"You didn't lose your shirt," I argue. "It's somewhere in my room."

"Somewhere," he repeats. I roll my eyes.

"You win this round but when we find it, you're putting it back on," I tell him.

"Oh, do you find this distracting?" he asks, taking my hand and pressing it to his abs.

"N-n-no, of course not," I stutter. I sigh at the fact that I stuttered in the first place. My mom walks into the kitchen and I snatch my hand away.

"Hey. No touching in the kitchen," she scolds. I laugh a little. "You two are going back to school tomorrow. They're clearing the roads as we speak."

"Awesome," I mutter under my breath, "because I'm so ready to get called a whore by everyone at school."

"What was that?" my mom asks. I look up and raise my eyebrows.

"Huh?" I ask. "I didn't say anything."

"I could have sworn—"

"Nope, not a word," I cut her off quickly.

"Okay, if you say so," she says.

Last night, I let Austin sleep with me again. As soon as I wake up, I walk over to my window. All of the snow is pushed up onto the sidewalk so that people can drive on the roads. I look back over at my bed and Austin sits up.

"Get out," I say as nicely as I can.

"What did I do?" he asks, shocked.

"I need to get dressed for school," I tell him.

"How do you even know we're going?" he asks me. I walk over to my laptop, open it, go to the school's website and scroll down.

"We're going to school today," I say, skimming the calendar.

"I don't want to though," he whines, pulling my covers up over his head. I walk over to him.

"You have to," I argue.

"Do I really?" he asks.

"Yes," I say, looking down at him.

"I don't feel like moving," he says. I roll my eyes.

"You have to," I repeat. I jump on top of him. "Get up, get up, get up, get up!"

"Alright," he groans. He sits up and our faces are inches apart. I quickly scramble to my feet. "Scared you're gonna lose control and make out with me?" he asks, smirking.

"You wish," I mutter. "Now get out." I point to the door. He stands up and walks to the door. I see something on the floor and I recognize it. I pick it up and throw it at him.

"What's this?" he asks, looking down at it. "Oh, hey, my shirt. You found it."

"Why did you take it off in the first place?" I ask. He shrugs.

"I got hot," he tells me.

"How did you get ho—? Never mind," I say. "Just go." He nods and walks out of my room.

I walk into my closet and dress myself quickly. I brush my teeth and my hair. I put on my shoes and walk downstairs. Austin and my mom are deep in conversation about something. I hear something about the weather. I walk over to them and Mom smiles at me.

"Are you ready for school?" she asks me. I nod.

"We have to take Austin home first, right?" I ask.

"Yes. Do you want us to take you to school, Austin?" my mom asks him.

"Sure," he says with a smirk directed toward me. I look up a little. I'm reminded of last year when I had to stay over at Austin's house because I couldn't get myself home and Mimi took me to school. I shake my head and look back over at them. We walk back out to the car and drive to Austin's house. He gets out and walks into his house.

"Ally, you've been acting a bit strange around Austin lately," Mom points out. "Are you alright? Did you two get into a fight?"

"No, Mom, Austin and I are fine," I tell her. "We're just..." I sigh.

"Having difficulties?" she asks.

"I guess you could say that," I murmur. We sit in silence until Austin comes back out.

"Sorry it took so long. My hair wouldn't lay down and..." he trails off.

"It's fine, honey," my mom says with a smile. I look back at him.

"Don't you usually mess it up on purpose?" I ask as my mom starts driving to the school.

He leans up close to me and whispers, "Of course only you'd notice." I roll my eyes and turn back to the front. After a few minutes, the school comes into view.

"Yay, school," I say quietly to myself. She stops the car and Austin and I get out.

"Have a good day at school!" my mom calls.

"I'll try," I mutter, closing the door.

"So, babe, you comin' with me in third period?" Austin asks me, resting his arms around my shoulders.

"Ha, no," I say, rolling my eyes as we walk toward the school.

"Aw, why not?" he asks, faking being sad again. The school is basically empty. I keep expecting Dallas to pop up like he did that one day.

"Because I don't like skipping school," I tell him. We walk to my locker. I shrug his arm off and unlock it.

"Can't you do it for me?" he asks with puppy dog eyes. I stare into my locker.

"No," I tell him. "Oh, maybe I _should_ come because there's nothing more fun than watching a few idiots drink themselves sick." I roll my eyes and take out my English textbook.

"Hey, that's exactly what Dez says," Austin tells me with a goofy smile. I close my locker and walk toward Mr. Brown's classroom. He follows me. When we get there, I see that Mr. Brown isn't in here yet. Austin walks in behind me.

"What are you doing?" I ask. "Don't you have to get to class?" He laughs.

"Ally, we have—" He glances at his phone. "—like, thirty minutes before school starts."

"Then go sit in your classroom," I tell him. He shakes his head.

"I don't want to go sit in there alone. What would _the _Austin Moon look like being _early to class_?" he snorts.

"You're already early to school," I tell him.

"Okay, well I don't wanna look stupid sitting in class alone," he says. He rolls his eyes. I walk to the back of the class and sit down in my desk. I open my book bag and take out my songbook. I look back up at Austin. I sigh and open my songbook. I take out my pen and flip to a new page. Austin sits on top of the desk beside mine and watches me as I write.

_Dear Songbook/Diary_

_Sorry I haven't written in you in a few days. I've been busy. There was a blizzard that lasted for a few days. Can you believe it? A blizzard! In Miami! I almost thought I was dreaming but I wasn't. Unfortunately, I let Austin sleep with me every night because I would have frozen my butt off if I hadn't. Also, he took his shirt off. Fun. I mean, how did he get hot? It was freezing! I just don't understand... why he's looking down at you while I'm writing! I'll write in you later._

_Love, Ally_

I look up at Austin and he leans back as if he weren't watching me. I roll my eyes and look back down at my book, flipping it to a new page.

_I'm walkin' on a thin line_

_And my hands are tied_

_Got nowhere to hide_

_I'm standin' at a crossroads_

_Don't know where to go_

_Feelin' so exposed_

I look up and see that Austin is behind me now instead of on the desk next to mine.

"Nosy much?" I ask, looking up at him. He glances at me then back down at my words.

"Song?" he asks.

"Song," I confirm.

"Can I hear the melody?" he asks.

"No," I say.

"Why not?"

"Because..." I try to think of a good reason. Oh! I know. "Because I haven't thought of it yet."

"Do you think we can do that after school?" he asks me.

"Uh, sure, I guess," I tell him. He smiles at me then looks up at the clock.

"Well, babe, school's gonna start in about ten minutes so I better go find my friends. I need to talk to them," he tells me.

"About what?" I ask, being the nosy one this time.

"About third period," he answers. He walks out of the room, leaving me alone. People soon start coming in and I look back down at my unfinished song.

I really need to talk to him about calling me "babe." I hate that name. He never called me babe when we weren't... having difficulties. Maybe that's why he calls me that. Because I told him to be mean and he knows it will annoy me. I sigh. I made a big—

_Don't say it._

Why not? It's the truth.

_No, it's not the truth. Letting him go was the right decision._

Letting him go? Have you not seen me since I told him to start being mean to me? I've been a mess! I'm going to tell him what he did. The next time I see him.

_You forget how much power I have over you. Remember the last time you tried to tell him?_

Oh. Yeah. I forgot. Um... you can't stop me from writing it out!

I take out a piece of paper and write down, in great detail, what Austin did. I honestly expected my pen to run out of ink or something. After English, I walk out of the classroom and down the halls. Halfway to chemistry, I trip. Over nothing. Of course I would trip over nothing.

_It takes skill to trip over flat surfaces, Ally._

I roll my eyes at Mrs. Pennyworth and pick up my book bag. I walk down the hall and into chemistry where Austin has already arrived. I walk over to our table and sit down. I take my book bag off my back and rummage through it quickly.

"What'cha lookin' for?" Austin asks me. I don't answer. I'm too focused on finding the note... but it isn't there.

I take out all of my books and set them on the table. I look in the bottom of my book bag but it isn't down there. I put my books back in my book bag one by one in case it was stuck in between them but it wasn't. I look in every single pocket on my book bag but it's not there. I repeat what I just did twice more but I still don't find it. I throw my book bag down in frustration. The note must have fallen out when I tripped in the hallway.

Well played, I think to Mrs. Pennyworth. Well played.

**LittleKitten816, you can't :( BUT if you have the QuickOffice app, you can write it there. If you write it there, sometimes it doesn't work and won't upload :( so I don't use it often. Oh, and if you write it on QuickOffice, make sure to double space between new paragraphs. Otherwise, it'll look like this:  
And it doesn't look good when it's written like this. Because it just looks bunched together. I wrote a chapter like that on accident and I can't change it and it just bothers me now every time I look at it and ugh. Anyhoodles, that's how you write a story on your phone.**

**Hannahb, for your first guess: nope. For your second guess: nope. And for your third guess: lol, SO CLOSE. Lol, jk but the secret will be told soon, I think. Probably. :)**

**Guest (the one that reviewed right before Hannahb; you reviewed and thought Austin had sex with another girl while he was drunk), oh. My. Gosh. You are so close. I am not even kidding. Like, you're l_l that close. Like, I just can't get over how close you are. :O**

**Lol, you guys are just trolls, aren't you? I check the poll every day and sometimes, I see that only one of the choices has gained a vote when you can vote for all of them but one if you wanted to. I'm just like, "-_-" Then I'm like, "It's fine, Kenzie. They're just a bunch'a trolls..." then I laugh. Lol, I love you guys xD Oh, and sorry I haven't updated :( I've been sick and plus, I didn't really have any inspiration. But I _did _get sudden inspiration for another story. I'll have to add it to the poll later... I'll add it tomorrow. I'm too lazy today. **

**WARNING! TINY SPOILER! XD IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW, STOP READING HERE!**

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**Since I haven't updated... here's a little spoiler... Someone's coming. Guess who it is?**

**Lol, I told you it was a TINY spoiler xD Anyhoodles, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	6. Chapter 6

Maybe that's why I could write the note freely. She was just waiting silently so that she could spring a surprise attack. I sigh and turn back to Austin.

"Never mind," I say.

"You haven't even said anything to me yet. What are you saying never mind about?" he asks.

"Oh. Nothing," I say. I turn to the front and the bell rings.

"Okay. Well, since there was a blizzard..." Mr. Baldwin starts. He shakes his head, obviously not able to believe the fact that there was a blizzard in _Miami_. "... We'll be doing our experiment today. Now, who remembers how I taught you to make it?" I raise my hand... I'm the only one who does. Mr. Baldwin sighs. "Alright. Fine. Since Ms. Dawson is the only one who remembers it, I'll teach it once more after Christmas break." He sits down at his desk. He points at someone and they put their hand down.

"What do we do today then?" he asks.

"You can do whatever, I guess. The experiment was supposed to take up the whole period so I have nothing else planned for today," Mr. Baldwin tells him.

"So can we leave?" the same boy asks.

"Uh..." Mr. Baldwin says, thinking about it. He sighs. "I guess you can. There's no point in torturing me _and _all of you by keeping you all in here." Everyone stands to leave. "Just don't disrupt any other classes!" he calls out the door.

"I guess we have a free period then," Austin states the obvious, standing up. I stand up too and we walk out of the classroom. Suddenly, he sighs frustratedly.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"How come all of these good things happen when we're fighting basically?" he asks, almost angrily. I look at him and see that he _is _mad about this. I put my hand on his chest and we stop walking.

"Calm down," I say, continuing our walk slowly. He follows me, still mad. "Austin, good things will happen when we're... back together... I promise," I tell him.

"But how do I even know we're going to get back together? You won't tell me what the hell I did so there's no way I can get you to forgive me!" he almost yells. We stop at my locker.

"Hey, I would tell you what you did but Mrs. Pennyworth won't let me," I say.

"Mrs. Pennyworth? Who the hell is Mrs. Pennyworth?" he asks.

"It's a long story," I sigh, spinning the dial on my locker. It isn't really a long a story; I just don't want to tell him. I open it and put my English textbook in it.

"Well, we've got an hour," he tells me. I close my locker and sigh. I turn and look up at him.

_Don't tell him about me!_

"She's... Never mind, it's too embarrassing," I tell him.

_Oh, so now I'm embarrassing?_

Well, you are! You're basically an imaginary friend. And I'm sixteen years old!

"Just tell me," he demands.

_Don't._

"You'll make fun of me," I tell him. Wait, he has to do that anyway. "Like, this is just—never mind."

"Ally, this is the third time you've said 'never mind' to me today alone," he says, the anger fading but annoyance obvious in his tone. He walks out the doors of the school and I follow him out. He walks to my tree and sits down, digging in his book bag. I sit down beside him.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" I ask.

"I promise," he says.

"Okay, but if you tell _anyone_, I get to slap you, right?" I ask. What I just said slaps _me _in the face. I bite my lip.

"Of course," he tells me.

"Okay. Mrs. Pennyworth is my imaginary friend that I talk to when I'm stressed. She seems to pop up all the time though even if I'm not that stressed and I guess she's more like my thoughts to myself but she won't let me tell you what you did and every time I try to, she just takes over my body and I can't do anything," I ramble on.

"Wait, so you said she's like your own thoughts, right?" he asks me. I nod. "So that means you just don't want to tell me, doesn't it?" he asks. I nod.

"Wait, no! I want to tell you!" I tell him. "I do! She just won't let me!"

"Ally, she doesn't exist!" he yells at me, turning to me. I turn to him too. I would say something but I just close my mouth. I'm better than this. I stand up and walk toward the school.

"Whatever," I mutter, more to myself.

_You didn't even defend me!_

Just shut up.

I walk into the school and back to my locker. I don't even need anything from here. I stand there for a second before turning and walking down the hall. I hear the well-known footsteps echoing against the walls of the almost empty hallway. It's just me, Austin, and maybe two other students from my class. I keep walking.

Austin's right. You don't exist. Why do you have so much power over me?

I hear a gasp from inside my head.

_How dare you say I don't exist?!_

It isn't that hard. You don't exist.

_I do too exist! Don't even deny it! I've been here all your life and you're saying I don't exist?!_

You know what? You've just become a problem for me and I'm shutting you out! Right now!

I muffle out her imagined voice and stop in the middle of the hall, letting Austin catch up to me.

"Ally, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I just—" Austin starts as I turn around but I cut him off.

"No, Austin, it's fine. I'm going to tell—shit!" I exclaim as I suddenly remember something.

"What?" Austin asks me. I guess this is how she's doing it now. I'm blocking her out so she's now accessing my thoughts and bringing them to my attention. To distract me. And it's working.

"I think... what's today's date?" I ask him, not sure.

"Uh..." he says. "I think it's the... I don't know." I roll my eyes and take my phone out, flipping it open. I open my calendar and see the date.

"Ah, shit," I repeat. I look at the time. We have thirty minutes before we have to go back to class. That gives me just enough time.

"What? What's going on?" he asks me.

"I have to get to the mall," I tell him, pushing my phone down into my book bag as I speak. "I have to get a present for Jenna."

"For Jenna? But why?" he asks. His questions are really beginning to annoy me. I walk toward the front doors of the school as I speak.

"Jenna is coming to Miami tomorrow," I tell him. "And I'll be working Sonic Boom all day after school tomorrow so I won't have any time to shop for a present for her."

"What are you gonna get her?" he asks. I shrug.

"I don't know. Something with a bunch of rainbows and sparkles," I tell him. He follows me all the way to the mall. We walk into one of the many kid's stores.

"Whoa, look at this place!" Austin exclaims happily, looking around.

"You've never been in here before?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. I roll my eyes, smiling. I walk through the store, looking for something with rainbows and sparkles on it. Austin is close behind me, examining every single thing on every single shelf. I walk down the stuffed animal aisle. look up at the shelf to my right and see the perfect gift for Jenna. I pick up the sparkly, orange unicorn with rainbows all over it in different places. I hold it up for Austin to see.

"Do you think she'd like this?" I ask him.

"Does she like unicorns?" he asks. I nod. "Then I think she will." I walk over to the cash register.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" the man asks me, scanning the price tag on the unicorn.

"We have a free period," I tell him, taking out my money and handing it to him. He puts the money in the cash register and hands me back the unicorn along with my receipt. "Thank you," I say. Austin and I leave the kids' store and walk back to school in silence. When we get there, I go to my locker and put the stuffed animal in. "Thanks for going with me," I say. He nods.

"You better get going. The bell is about to ring," he tells me. I almost asked why he only said "you" and not "we" but then I remembered his stupid little drinking game. I turn around to leave and the bell rings. I let out a mix between a yelp and a gasp as I feel a hand on my butt. I turn back around to a smirking and winking Austin.

"See ya later, babe," he says, turning and walking out the front door. Oh, I am going to kill him! I sigh angrily and walk to Algebra. After that, I go to my locker, take out my lunch, and walk outside to the tree on the side of the school where Trish is already waiting. I wave and sit down beside her. She smiles.

"So how did Austin's extended sleepover go?" she asks me.

"It went fine, I guess," I mutter. She stares at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, first of all, since I was freezing my ass off—" Trish takes my hand and slaps it, something she hasn't done in a while. "—I had to sleep with Austin."

"You slept with Austin?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. "Just because you were cold, it didn't mean you had to—"

"Trish! I meant that I invited him into my bed! I didn't actually have sex with him," I tell her. I shiver in disgust.

"Oh, okay. Well that isn't so bad," she tells me. "Anything happen today yet?" I whisper in her ear what Austin did because it would be weird if I said it out loud. Her eyes widen.

"He better be glad he isn't here right now. I'll get him when he gets back though. I'll make sure of that," she spits. When I walk in, I notice that there are only a few problems on the board. Mrs. West smiles at me.

"Are those the only problems today?" I ask her, gesturing toward the board as I approach her desk. She glances up at them and Trish walks to her desk.

"Yes, but not for you. You've already done these problems. I assigned them as homework just for you sometime last week. I want you to do this eleventh grade worksheet. Just to see how advanced you are," she tells me. "Some of these things I haven't taught so if you'd like me to show you anything, I will." I nod to her and take the worksheet. I walk to my desk and sit down, dropping my bag on the floor.

"Whoa, what is that?" Trish asks, looking over at it.

"Mrs. West is seeing how advanced I am," I tell her, using Mrs. West's exact words.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" she asks, clearing not understanding any of the problems Mrs. West has on the board.

I sigh, not wanting my best friend to fail this easy assignment. A few people walk into class. I take Trish's paper and copy the problems from the board down, working them quickly. I hand her back her paper.

"Thanks," she tells me. I smile. People begin walking into the classroom quickly but Austin isn't amongst them. I roll my eyes and look down at the worksheet. This doesn't even look that hard. I do a few of the problems and I get stuck on one. I understand it about a minute later though. I finish the problems with ease and take it to Mrs. West.

"Thank you, Ally," she says, taking the sheet from me.

"You're welcome," I say. I walk back to my desk and sit down. The next time I see Austin, it's in French. He walks into class, swaying just a bit. I roll my eyes and try my best to pay attention to the lesson. A few minutes into class, I feel his eyes on me. I turn my head slowly. "What?" I ask.

"I'm not sorry," he says, his eyes drooping a bit and his words slurring, "for grabbing your ass earlier today."

"Don't you mean you _are _sorry?" I ask. He shakes his head a little.

"No, I mean that I'm not sorry," he tells me. I roll my eyes again and look to the front.

Austin slowly sobers up. Well, he gets less drunk. I wouldn't say he's sober. I can't believe no one noticed that he reeks of vodka. It's disgusting. Why would you drink anyway? I tried vodka once.

Worst thing that ever entered my mouth.

I never tried any other kind of alcohol because I thought it would all taste the same or something. The bell rings and I run to my next class.

After school, I walk to locker and open it up. I take out the stuffed unicorn and shove it into my book bag so no one will see it and make fun of it. I run out the door to wait for my mom, hoping Austin won't want to come home with me again today and that he'll just come over later..

"Hello, whore," I hear from behind me. Lovely.

**Guest, yes, he was crying because he was upset that Ally wouldn't tell him what he did. He wanted to make it right.**

**TotodileLove, maybe I do... ;) Haha, no, I'm just trying to keep this up so that something else can happen and I can make the secret all spontaneous when she tells him.**

**Hannahb, OMG DID YOU SEE THE PART WHERE THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT IF THEY WERE DATING?! AND THE LOOK ON THEIR FACES?! AND THE WAY AUSTIN SAID, "Y-YEAH, THAT WOULD BE WEIRD..." LOL, NO, ROSS/AUSTIN, YOU SHIP AUSLLY/RAURA TOO. DON'T TRY TO DENY IT... AND—OML—HIS DANCE MOVES. I couldn't take the sexiness...**

**Sorry I haven't updated! Two words: Homework. Sucks. And I've been trying to update, I really have but I just couldn't. And, lol, you I can't believe none of you guessed it. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FORGOT ABOUT THE MOST ADORABLE OC. LIKE, WHAT? Anyhoodles, JENNA IS COMING! WHOO! Lol, anyhoodles (yes, I said that again), review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	7. Chapter 7

"What do you want?" I ask, a slight edge in my tone. He looks around.

"I wanted to say that I really _am _sorry for grabbing your ass earlier," he tells me, sincerely.

"Yeah, right," I mutter. I look back to the parking lot, scanning it for my mom. Everyone is still leaving so I can't really see if she's here yet. I keep looking though. I feel Austin's eyes on me but I don't look back over at him. The silence suddenly gets very awkward. All I can hear is Austin's unbelievably heavy breathing.

"Ally," he finally says, sounding a bit annoyed at my ignoring him.

"What?" I ask, still not looking at him. He moves into my line of vision and I see the smirk on his face. "What?" I repeat. "And wipe that damn smirk off your face." He just rolls his eyes.

"You know what?" he asks. I raise my eyebrows as if to ask "what?" "I was speaking the truth today in French class. I'm _not _sorry I grabbed your ass." My eyes widen just a bit. I can't believe he said that. I look straight into his eyes and see that he's basically sober. Well, as sober as an Austin can get a few hours after drinking. And that's usually sober enough for him to think straight.

"Wh-what?" I ask. He just smirks again. "A-are you being serious right now?" I ask him. He nods.

"I'm totally, completely serious. Like I said a few nights ago, your ass could use some serious improvement. I was just, you know, testing it to see if you'd taken my advice." I let out a mix between a scoff and a huff.

"Pig," I mutter. A few people walk up to us. It's Spencer and Calum. I sigh frustratedly. They stand beside Austin, making me feel trapped against the wall. They all just smile at me. Creepily, might I add. I stare back at them. "What?"

"Hey, whore," Calum says. Spencer winks at me, looking me up and down.

"I'd like a turn with_ that_," Spencer says. I scowl at them. Austin just stands there, still smirking. Spencer takes a step closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "How about tomorrow night? My house. Just you and me. We'd have the whole house to fuck around in." I struggle a little to get out of Spencer's arms, glancing toward Austin. He doesn't even make a move.

"Well, let's make it a threesome," Calum says, also taking a step closer and pressing up against me, his arm resting on the brick wall. "Yo, Austin, wanna make it a party?" he calls over his shoulder. I look over at Austin who's still smirking. I know there's fear in my eyes but he doesn't acknowledge it. Some boyfriend he's being right now. Going to let his girlfriend get gang raped.

Someone give him the Boyfriend of the Year Award!

"Hm," Austin says, thinking about it, "well, I would like to finally ride my girlfriend. She's barely let me touch her! I mean, she got mad at me for grabbing her ass earlier today." He rolls his eyes. "Like, really, Ally, what kind of girlfriend does that?"

"Oh, yeah. _I'm _the bad one in this relationship. Because I'm definitely about to let my girlfriend that I supposedly love have sex with my best friends! Oh, wait, that's _you_!" I scream at him. Spencer lifts up my shirt a little and snakes his arms back around my waist, now in contact with my skin. I shiver as cool air rushes up my shirt.

"Whoa, you're _cheating _on me?! With another girl?!" Austin asks. "... Sweet! Can I watch you make out with her?" I scowl again because I know I made it clear that I was talking about him. I struggle again to get away but I know I can't. These guys are strong enough to be linemen or linebackers or whatever. The strongest position on the football team. But I know one person who is stronger than the both of them put together. Someone who would supposedly put his life on the line for me. Someone who supposedly loves me.

Austin. Moon.

But no. He's just standing over there without a care in the world. _Oh, yeah. It'll be so fun to watch my girlfriend get raped by two of my best friends. _That's probably what he's thinking. Right now.

"You know what you should do?" Austin asks Calum and Spencer. They look over at him. I try to slip away but Spencer's hold on me gets a bit tighter. Austin looks around at the ghost town of a parking lot. There isn't a car in sight. Nor a teacher or form of authority. "You should just fuck her right now. In the parking lot. No one's around. Why wait until tomorrow when you could have a piece of that sexiness right now?"

My eyes widen. I look at his own eyes and see something unfamiliar to me. It's... it's... I don't know. It looks as if it's a mix between anger and seduction. He smirks as I whimper and try once again to get away.

A few seconds later, my shirt is off as well as my tank top. A pair of lips are forced upon mine and I rip mine away. I feel someone else's lips brush against my bare stomach. As Calum holds me in place and Spencer struggles with my "complicated" bra structure, I stare at Austin who's just standing there, roaring with laughter. Then I know.

I've lost him.

Over the past few days, he's given me sort of sad smiles when he's mean to me. He's gone easy on me. Over the past few _years, _he's never done anything as bad as this. He's threatened to rape me, yeah. But he's never come close to doing it. But apparently, we're old enough now in his eyes for something as bad as rape.

I scream as loud as I can to see if I can attract the attention of someone. Austin's laughter dies down a little and he raises his eyebrows at me.

"Really? I bet I could make you scream louder than _that_. That was _weak_," he says, "like you." Suddenly, he takes his phone out, presses a few buttons, then holds it up to his ear. "Hello?" he answers it. "Oh... um... hi, Mom." Calum and Spencer chuckle but they don't stop.

"Stop it!" I shout, trying to hit them or kick them. Calum, unfortunately, is stepping on my toes (not to where it would hurt though; only so he can keep me from kicking them), and he's holding my hands so I can't hit them. "Stop, damn it!"

"No, no, that was just... some people across the street. They're... playing some sort of game... … Oh, it's fine that you're late," he says. The smirks reappears as he looks at me. Then his eyes widen. "Oh, oh, okay. I'll see you in a bit then. Bye, Mom." He hangs up. "Guys! My mom is almost here! Stop!"

Calum lets go of me and the first thing I do is kick his shin. He groans a little at the pain. Spencer stops with my bra and steps away from me before I can hurt him.

"Why do we have to stop?" Spencer asks. "It isn't like your mom would care."

"Dude, my mom loves Ally. They're, like, best friends or something. She would kick your asses," Austin explains. They leave me standing there and I scramble to pick up my tank top and shirt. I put on my shirt without even worrying about my tank top. My own mom could be here any minute and what would it look like if I was trying to get my shirt on? I shove my tank top into my book bag and sling it onto my back.

Should I tell my mom?

_No._

Oh, great. _You're _back.

_Ally, dear, you can't get rid of me. I'll be here for the rest of your life._

Awesome... not! But I guess you're really my only friend besides Trish. So why shouldn't I tell my mom?

_Because she would go to Austin's house and rip him to pieces. Or, better yet, she'd get Lester to do it._

But shouldn't I want that?

_No, because you love Austin and you don't want anything to happen to him._

… I thought you were against Austin?

_Ally... I'm you._

And I'm not against Austin... You're right.. But why were you against Austin in the beginning if you're me?

_Because you didn't want to admit that you loved him. So I had to keep reminding you of what you wanted. You always thought that you couldn't love a boy like Austin Moon. And when you knew you loved him, and he did... that thing, you wanted to get over him as quickly as possible so, basically, you told me to help you get over him._

Oh. So should I tell Trish?

_Are you seriously asking me that...?_

You're right... again. She's just like my mom and she would go to his house and kill him. Thank you, Mrs. Pennyworth.

_Anytime, hon'._

I see my mom coming and I take a deep breath.

"She'll kill Austin. Don't tell her. She'll kill Austin. Don't tell her. She'll kill Austin. Don't tell her," I say to myself over and over again until I get into the car. "Hey, Mom!" I say... with a bit too much enthusiasm.

_Dial it down, Ally._

"Why are you so happy?" she asks, laughing a little. I shrug.

"I'm not," I lie. I've gotten a little better at that.

"Okay, so how was school?" she asks, leaving the school parking lot.

"It was fine," I tell her. We turn onto a road that doesn't lead to the house. "Where are we going?" I ask.

"To the airport. Don't you remember? Jenna and Aunt Ashley are coming to Miami today," she tells me.

"That's today?" I ask. "But I thought they were coming tomorrow."

"You must have misheard me," she says. "I said, 'Aunt Ashley and Jenna are coming down the day you get out of school for Christmas break.' Everything I say to you just goes through one ear and out the other, doesn't it?"

"Wait, today is my last day?" I ask. She nods, looking over at me.

"Are you okay?" she asks me. "Usually, you're the one who can tell everyone exactly what the date is. Did something happen to your brain?" She laughs.

"Yeah, I almost got raped today by who I thought was my boyfriend and two of his friends. That's what happened" is what I wanted to say but then she'd slam on brakes, making both of us fly forward and through the windshield. So I just keep quiet.

She pulls into the driveway of the airport and we get out to wait for Aunt Ashley and Jenna. We walk inside and sit down. It's about twenty minutes before their plane finally touches down.

We look for them and they're one of the last ones to get into the airport. They both have thick jackets on to protect them from the cold. Jenna runs and jumps into my arms and Aunt Ashley hugs my mom immediately. Jenna hugs my neck and pulls away.

"Where's Austin?" she asks.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" I ask her.

"Ew, yucky!" she exclaims. "But where is he? I wanna see my best friend!"

"We can drop you two off at Austin's house on the way home if she wants to see him," my mom says, pulling away from my aunt.

"Oh. No, no, that's not necessary, Mom. He'll probably be over soon," I tell her. Oh, shit, he'll probably be over soon... I really don't want to see him after what happened. I still can't believe he did that. Like, that was over the line.

Add that to the short-for-now list of why I can never forgive him.

When we get home, I remember something. We walk inside and my aunt and my mom go up the stairs to get everything situated. I stop Jenna as she begins to walk up them.

"Hey, I got you something," I tell her, smiling. She jumps up and down with excitement. I take my book bag off of my back and reach inside. I pull out the unicorn and her eyes widen to the size of saucers.

"Oh. My. Gosh. A _unicorn?!" _she asks, hugging it tightly. "I love it! Thank you, Ally!" Then I remember something else. _Austin _helped me pick that out. I roll my eyes in disgust at him. She hugs me tightly too for a second then runs up the stairs screaming, "Mommy! Mommy! Look what Ally got me!"

I smile at the adorable little girl. I walk up to my room, open the door, and scream at the top of my lungs. Austin's sitting on my bed, acting as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

"Dad!" I shout when I finally catch my breath.

"Yes, honey?" he asks, appearing behind me.

"Why didn't you tell me Austin was here?" I ask.

"I didn't know you were home yet," he tells me. "I'm sorry. I'll listen better for the door next time."

"Okay," I say as he leaves my room. I stare at Austin as he smirks away. Suddenly, something brushes against my leg. I see Jenna run and jump into Austin's arms, smiling brightly. He's hesitant but he hugs her back.

"Hey, Jenna," he says.

"I missed you, bestie," Jenna tells him.

"I missed you too," Austin replies. She finally lets go. Jenna walks back over to me and pulls me down to her height.

"Please be good to him. He's a keeper and I don't wanna lose my best friend," she whispers in my ear. My eyes widen and tears prick at the back of my eyes. She skips out of my room, humming an old nursery rhyme.

**GodIsTheLord, sorry I didn't know. Obviously, I don't drink it xD But thank you for pointing that out. I'm still gonna make it have an odor in my story because it's a bit important for when he's drunk, y'know?**

**RandomSmileyPerson, too bad it didn't last :/ And yeah, it made sense. OMG, DID YOU SEE HIS DANCE MOVES AT THE MAKE YOUR MARK THING?! OMG. Also, did he trip jumping onto the other stage or was it just a trick of the lights?**

**AwesomeSauce325, I know. I just about died... :')**

**Sorry I haven't updated everyone! I hate school! But I've been writing all weekend so there will be another chapter right after this one! Yay! And again, sorry I haven't been updating as frequently as I used to. Remember when I used to update everyday? :') Anyhoodles, review!**

**Love, KeNzIe**


	8. Chapter 8

Austin just stares at me. Not a hint of sincerity in his eyes. I stare back at him for a few seconds before shutting my door. He glances at the closed door then back to me.

"So we're finally doing this, huh?" he asks me.

"Doing what?" I ask him, confused. He gestures to the closed door. "I am never going to fuck you, Austin Moon."

"See where your mind went?" he asks me, cocking an eyebrow. I roll my eyes.

_See, Ally? This isn't so hard. You can hate him again._

You're absolutely right.

"Then what _did _you mean?" I ask. He looks around and lies back on my bed.

"Yeah, that was what I meant," he confirms.

"Well, I'm not going to fuck you. What are you even doing here?" I ask.

"I'm here for my French lesson. Duh," he says.

"We're on vacation," I remind him. "You don't need to come over." Jenna runs into my room again.

"Can I stay in here while you two do what you're doing?" she asks me.

"Austin is probably going to be leaving here in a few minutes, Jenna," I tell her. She pouts and soon tears begin running down her face.

"But I don't want him to leave!" she exclaims. She jumps into his lap again. Austin smirks and holds her.

"Here's an idea, Jenna. How about you play with Austin and I go... do something else?" I ask.

"Isn't playing with me _your_ job?" Austin asks me with a wink. I sigh angrily.

"But I wanna play with you too!" Jenna exclaims. "And don't you want to play with your boyfriend?"

"Oh, of course she does, Jenna," Austin answers for me.

"Jenna, I'd love to... hang out with you and Austin but... I'm... I've... got something else to do," I say.

"What do you have to do?" she asks me. I look around.

"I have a song to finish," I tell her.

"Do you _have _to finish it?" she asks, her tears finally stopping. I sigh. I can't say no to that face.

"I suppose I don't _have _to," I admit. I really didn't have to. I never _have _to write songs. I just want to.

"Yay!" Jenna exclaims. "So what were you doing?"

"Well, we were going to study our French," I tell her.

"Boring!" she says. "Hey, my mommy told me that you worked on songs together so if you have to finish it that bad..."

"Oh, you want me to write a song with him?" I ask. I glance at him. "I can finish it later." She pouts and so does Austin. Jenna comes over to me and hugs my legs.

"Wh-Ally," Austin says, almost using his nickname but realized he was around Jenna. "We haven't written a song in forever. And besides, didn't I promise to help you with the melody?" His expression softens a bit. I noticed that when we're talking about and composing music is really the only time he was my friend. When we were how we used to be. I close my eyes to think about it.

"Allyyy," Jenna groans. "Pleeease."

"Alright, alright," I finally give in. I grab my keyboard and sit down beside Austin, resting it on our laps. He immediately plays a short melody and I like it. I put my book bag on the floor and take my songbook out of it. I flip to a certain page.

_Yeahhh_

_Whoaaa_

_I'm walkin' on a thin line_

_And my hands are tied_

_Got nowhere to hide_

_I'm standin' at a crossroads_

_Don't nowhere to go_

_Feelin' so exposed_

_Yeah, I'm caught_

_In between_

_Where I'm goin' and where I've been_

_But I know_

_There's no turnin' back_

_Yeah_

I don't think this melody will go with the next set of lyrics so I try something else. Austin takes my book and looks in it, singing the next part. I almost snatch my book back but honestly, I have no desire to.

_It's like I'm balanced on the edge_

_It's like I'm hangin' by a thread_

_But I'm still gonna push ahead_

_So I tell myself_

_Yeah, I tell myself_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

Austin stops singing and we change the beat a little. He continues singing.

_It'd be so easy just to run_

_It'd be so easy to just give up_

_But I'm not that boy who's gon' turn my back_

_There's no turnin' back_

_No turnin' back_

Austin stops singing again and we slow down the tempo.

_It's like balanced on the edge..._

_It's like I'm hangin' by a thread..._

_But I'm still gonna push ahead..._

_So I tell myself_

_Yeah, I tell myself_

We speed the tempo back up to the original speed.

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Don't look down_

_Down_

_Down_

_Down_

Music is the only thing that brings us together. Remember that. I just sit there, staring down at the keyboard keys. Suddenly, Jenna bursts into applause. I smile. Soon after, I hear a car horn.

"Okay, bye," I say to Austin.

"Well then," he says as if he's actually offended. He stands up and hugs Jenna, smiling.

"Bye, Jenna," Austin says. He walks out and Jenna smiles at me. I smile back and she skips out of my room. Okay... I stand up and walk over to my closet, taking out my radio. I used to listen to this every day but then I got my keyboard and this just kind of got pushed away. I plug it in and turn it to Miami Mack.

_What kind of man..._

_Lays his hands..._

_On the woman..._

_He loves?_

_Calls her angel_

_And shows no remorse_

I change the station as tears stream down my face. Why would Miami Mack play such an old song anyway? I sigh and change it back to the station. I need to get all of my tears out.

_Too_

_Beautiful_

_Your heart_

_It wants something more_

_Those_

_Shades of blue on that_

_Face of yours hides that_

_Smile that beats in your chest_

I lie down on my bed and curl up into a ball, crying into my knees.

_When he's done with her beating_

_He just stands aside_

_Wipes the sweat from his brow_

_And yells over her cries_

"_You don't know what I've been through!"_

_He yells and he says_

"_You don't know what I've done for you!"_

_And hits her..._

_Again..._

_You_

_Are_

_Too_

_Beautiful_

_Your heart_

_It wants something more_

_Those_

_Shades of blue on that_

_Face of yours hides that_

_Smile that beats in your chest_

_She stands_

_In_

_The mirror_

_She looks_

_Less_

_Alive_

_She lifts_

_Up_

_Her shirt_

_To see_

_She has five_

_Branded fingers_

_On_

_Her_

_Side_

_She's feeling it all now_

_But she doesn't cry_

_She doesn't cry_

Austin wasn't this bad. I shouldn't be listening to this. Austin didn't beat me repeatedly. Once was enough.

_I was home alone. My mom and my dad had gone out on a "date." I sat at my desk, smiling to myself, writing in my book about Austin. It had been two weeks since Austin and I said that we loved each other. I almost thought I was dreaming considering who he is and how he's treated me for the last few years. But no. It was real. Very real. My smile got wider as I thought this._

_I heard a car outside my house and I wondered who it was. I peeked out my window and saw the car I know so well. It was Mimi's. That meant Austin was here! I skipped down the stairs as he rang the doorbell. I opened the door to see him leaning on against the door frame. I smiled at him and he smiled back, almost tiredly._

"_Are you sleepy?" I asked him with a small giggle. I stepped to the side, allowing him inside. He staggered in and collapsed on the couch. He looked over at me as I sat down beside him. He just stared at me, not talking. "What?" I asked, getting annoyed of his silence._

"_You look so hot," he told me, his words slurred. I narrowed my eyes at him. He sat up, looking me in the eyes. He's close enough now that I can smell his breath._

_It smells like... _alcohol_._

_He leaned over and kissed me, a bit on the fierce side. I shoved him off of me and he raised his eyebrows at me._

"_What?" he asked. "I'm not allowed to kiss my girlfriend?"_

"_No," I told him firmly._

"_And why not?" he asked._

"_You know why," I said._

"_No, I don't know why," he said._

"_You're drunk," I spit, standing up. He looked shocked._

"_I am not!" he yelled, standing up. I stared at him. He wrapped his arms around me. "Baby, I'm not drunk. I'm not."_

_I ripped myself from his grasp. It wasn't five seconds before I was back in his arms. I sighed angrily. He kissed the top of my head. Then my temple. Then my cheek. Then my jawline. Then my neck. Then my shoulder. Before he could get any lower, I grabbed his hair and yanked it, bringing his head up._

"_Ow..." he groaned, rubbing the top of his head. I looked up into his eyes and saw that he was a bit angry but they soon returned to normal._

_He sat back down on the couch, bringing me with him. He dragged me into his lap. He tugged at the button on my pants. I took his hand and pushed it away. He looked at me and sighed._

"_Ally, Ally, Ally," he said, shaking his head wearily. "You knew how this relationship was gonna go, right?"_

"_Wh-what do you mean?" I asked, hoping he wasn't implying what I thought he was implying._

"_I know you've seen what I do with other girls," he told me. "I kiss them, I take them out on a date, I __tell them I love them, and I fuck them. That's how it goes with every girl. Every one of my sluts. You're one of my sluts. You have to remember that." Suddenly, I remembered something that I'd read somewhere._

"_75 percent of what a drunk person says is true." Could that have been part of the seventy five percent? I shook my head, not wanting to believe it._

"_We have to fuck. Or it's over," he said. The last sentence echoed inside my head for the longest. "Well, I wouldn't break up with you but it would seriously piss me off."_

"_Well, go ahead and get pissed off because I'm not going to fuck you," I told him. He stood up again and yanked me to my feet. He looked down at me, towered over me._

"_You're going to fuck me, Allyson Dawson," he ordered._

"_Excuse me?" I asked, feeling brave. Now he's angry. He probably wasn't expecting me to say no to him since every other girl gives in._

"_I will not fuck anyone. Especially not you." Suddenly, I felt his fist hit my cheek. Tears immediately rushed down my face. "You know what? Fuck you. Get the hell out of my house. Now. And don't ever come back. Don't expect me to even talk to you anymore."_

"_You know you'll talk to me. You can't resist me."_

"_Oh, yeah? We'll see about that," I said, avoiding his eyes. He grabbed the collar of my shirt, and forced me to look into his eyes._

"_Look at me when I'm talking to you," he demanded. I squirmed out of his grasp and ran to the door, opening it._

"_Get the hell out of my house! Right fucking now! Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" I screamed as loud as I could._

"_Fine!" he yelled. He staggered back outside and tripped down the steps. I slammed the door shut and cupped my cheek, sliding down the door as I cried my eyes out._

"_I hate you, Austin Moon!" I screamed, sobbing loudly._

Of course I didn't mean anything I said that night. I talked to him. The next day actually. He had walked up to me before school and kissed my cheek. Then he noticed my bruise. He asked me what it was all day that day but I wouldn't tell him. I was pissed. Extremely pissed. He noted my behavior and was automatically sad for the rest of the day too.

Ever since then, it's been awkward since I wouldn't tell him. The truth is: I wanted to get back at him. I just... I couldn't tell him. I wanted him to be emotionally on my level because I know it's been driving him mad to know. I smirk at this.

So I lied to Austin when I said Mrs. Pennyworth didn't want me to tell him. Like she said, she just does what my brain tells her to do. And my brain told her to not let me tell him. My door opens and someone walks in. I sit up and see that it's Jenna.

"Hey, Jenna, what's up?" I ask her, turning off my radio.

"Why are you crying?" she asks sadly. I smile and wipe my tears as she climbs onto my bed and sits beside me.

"Nothing," I tell her. "So what's going on?"

"Why were you being so mean to Austin?" she asks me, frowning.

"It's a long story," I say. "You wouldn't understand." I ruffle her hair.

"Are you sure I wouldn't?" she asks.

"I'm sure. But I think Austin and I will be okay again soon. I think he's suffered enough," I say. Even though he called me "one of his sluts," I think I can—

Wait. He called me one of his sluts. _He called me one of his fucking sluts!_ I feel myself getting angry again. I don't need to forgive him! What was I thinking?! I sigh angrily. Jenna stands up from my bed, a horrified look on her face.

"A-Ally, what are you doing?" she asks, looking down at my hands. I look down and see that my fingernails are digging into my palms, drawing blood.

"Jenna, I need you to go," I say through clenched teeth. I pry my hands open, angry at Austin.

That was one of the things he promised he would never do. Make me one of his sluts. And apparently, that's exactly what he fucking did! I can't even believe him! I'm glad I reflected on what happened because I never would have given that much thought unless I did.

Jenna runs out of my room. I feel bad for scaring her. I stand up, wanting to do something.

_And what exactly are you going to do?!_

I'm going to...! I'm going to...! I'm going to...! I don't know what I'm going to do... What _can _I do?

_Nothing._

You're right. You're completely right.

I lie back down on my bed and look toward my balcony door. The curtains are pulled back just a little and I can see that the glass is fogged up. I still can't believe it's cold in Miami. I drift off to sleep, angry and confused.

**There'll be another chapter right after this!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	9. Chapter 9

I wake up fairly early. Well, early for being on vacation. It's about 9:30. I'm mad at myself for snapping at Jenna. I stand up and walk to her room. I rap gently on the door then I realize she must be sleeping. I open the door and walk inside slowly. I look at her small face, resting on the crème-colored pillow. I sit on her bed. I shake her shoulder, saying her name quietly.

"Jenna... Jenna..." I say. Her eyes flutter open and they stare at me for a moment before widening. I place my hands on her shoulders. "Jenna, I'm sorry for snapping at you last night," I apologize. She smiles and hugs me.

"It's okay, Ally," she says. I smile back.

"So," I say, sitting against the head board and caressing her hair. "What does little Jenna want for Christmas? I'm going to talk to Santa soon and I want to know exactly what to tell him."

"Santa?!" she asks, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "You know him?!"

"Well, of course I do. Everyone knows him. You don't because you're too young but soon, he'll be your best friend. And you'll be telling him what your friends want for Christmas," I say, tapping her nose. She bounces up and down.

"Okay, well... all I want for Christmas..." she starts, a wide grin showing on her face.

Here it comes.

"... is my two front teeth! My two front teeth! See my two front teeth!" she exclaims. She jumps up and bounces around the room, singing loudly.

"Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth, then I could wish you 'Merry Christmas!' It seems so long since I could say 'Sister Susie sitting on a thistle!' Gosh, oh gee, how happy I'd be if only I could whistle!" She tries to whistle but, even though she still has her two front teeth, she hasn't quite learned how to whistle yet. So it's just a small blowing sound. I giggle as she continues singing.

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth! My two front teeth! See my two front teeth! Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth, then I could wish you 'Merry Christmas!'" She stops singing and smiles. "How was that?"

"It gets better every year," I tell her, smiling. "Are they almost ready to come out this year?" She wiggles her front teeth with her tongue and nods.

"They're so loose!" she exclaims happily.

"I could yank 'em out if you want," I joke.

"Really?!" she asks excitedly. We walk downstairs. I grab a napkin and pinch her teeth with it.

"Do you really want me to do this?" I ask.

"Yeth," she mumbles through the napkin. I tighten my grip on the napkin... I can't do it. What if I hurt her? I let go of her and she frowns.

"Sorry, I can't," I say. She shrugs.

"Okay. Hey, can we watch Spongebob?!" she asks.

"If it's on," I sigh, hoping it isn't on. We walk to the living room and sit down. I turn the channel to Nickelodeon and see that Spongebob _is _on. Awesome. _And _it's one of the episodes where he starts a fire underwater. Even better. After about two and a half episodes, the door bell rings.

"Thank God," I whisper, standing up. I walk to the door and open it. "Oh, hi, Blondie," I mutter, feeling my anger.

"Guess what, whore?!" he asks excitedly. "I have a meeting with a famous record producer later today!" I contain my own excitement and put on a poker face.

"Yeah, and?" I ask.

"I wanted to know if I could use Don't Look Down," he says. I sigh.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I say, shrugging.

"Good, 'cause I already used it. The meeting was an hour ago," he tells me. I sigh angrily and lift my hand to slam the door in his face. He puts one foot forward, stopping the door.

"What happened to your hand?" he asks, looking at it.

"Nothing," I murmur. He takes my other hand, looking at it.

"What the hell did you do?" he asks, somewhat calm.

"Ally!" I hear someone whine. "Who was at the—Austin!" His face breaks into a smile and Jenna jumps into his arms. It's funny how excited they get when they see each other. Whereas I just want to kill Austin for the things he's done. He didn't used to be this bad. I sigh and Austin sets Jenna down.

"So, Ally, as I was saying," he says. "There's a New Year's Eve party. Jimmy wants me to perform."

"Okay," I say, not understanding but wanting him to leave.

"I want you to come..." Austin says. Something tells me he's lying...

"Uh... what if I don't want to?" I ask.

"But you have to!" Austin exclaims eagerly. I stare at him.

"Why?" I ask. He sighs angrily.

"Why do you have to be so difficult, Ally?!" he asks me. Jenna moves behind me at his sudden change of tone and whimpers. She holds my leg and buries her face into it. Austin sighs again. "Ally, it's your choice. Come. Or don't. Buuut, I kinda hope you do."

"I'll think about it," I sigh. Austin smiles and hugs me tightly. I hesitate but hug him back.

"Awww," I hear from behind me. I let go of Austin and spin around to see my mom and Aunt Ashley. I wonder when they woke up.

"Sorry, we don't mean to barge in but we needed Jenna," Aunt Ashley tells us. Jenna releases my leg and runs to Aunt Ashley. "Ally, would you like to come with us?"

"Come with you where?" I ask, turning completely away from Austin.

"We're going shopping for Christmas decorations," my mom tells me, smiling. "For the house. We've already gotten the ones for Sonic Boom." She glances at Austin. The look in her eye scares me. I sigh.

"Sure, Mom, I'll go," I finally say.

"Austin, would you like to come?" my mom asks.

"He's busy!" I blurt out.

"I can clear my schedule for you," Austin says, kissing my cheek.

"Awww," Aunt Ashley and my mom say again. My mom leans closer to my aunt and whispers something.

I catch the words "mistletoe," "Austin," and "Ally." Kill. Me. Now. My dad chooses this time to walk into the room and I'm thankful.

"Honey, we're going to the mall to shop for some Christmas decorations," Mom tells him. "Think you can hold down the fort?"

"Of course I can," Dad says. He kisses her cheek and she giggles. I see myself in her for a second. The happy, giggling face.

I miss giggling every time Austin so much as brushed up against me. I miss getting excited every single time I saw his face, his smile. I miss being able to just walk up and kiss him in the middle of classes. I miss Austin. It's funny how all of this only lasted for two weeks anyway.

I sigh loudly. I didn't mean for it to be loud. It just kind of came out loud. Aunt Ashley, Austin, Jenna, and my mom all look at me.

"Is something wrong, honey?" my mom asks. I shake my head and put on my most convincing smile.

"Nope, I'm good," I tell her. She stares at me for another moment before turning to Dad.

"Okay, sweetie, we'll be back soon," she says, planting a quick kiss on his lips. Suddenly, I remember something.

"Mom, you guys will have to go without me. I totally forgot. I have to work Sonic Boom today," I explain.

"Oh, you can skip work for a few hours today. Right, Lester?" Mom asks. My dad nods, smiling then walks toward the living room.

"So close," I whisper as I walk up the stairs to my room. Everyone gets dressed and we walk out to Mom's car.

Austin, Jenna, and I sit in the backseat and I try to get Jenna to sit in the middle but she won't. She makes me sit in the middle beside Austin. As my mom drives out of my driveway, Austin reaches over and grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. He stares out of the window. I see my aunt look back at us and smile.

When we get to the mall, we all go to the Holiday Store. It changes for every holiday. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. For Halloween, they sell trick-or-treat buckets, candy, costumes, and decorations. For Thanksgiving, they sell decorations, turkeys, and other foods. For Christmas, they sell toys (many other things people would want), decorations, and wrapping paper.

My mom and aunt automatically go off toward the back of the store so Austin and I are stuck with Jenna. We walk through the store, examining every other thing. I look up and see things that frighten me.

Mistletoe. Everywhere.

I let go of Austin's hand and walk to Jenna's other side. Austin looks at me and cocks an eyebrow. I look up at the ceiling. He follows my gaze and a smirk appears on his face.

After a few more minutes of walking, Austin picks Jenna up and walks beside me. I see mistletoe a few feet in front of us and I bend down to tie my shoe. Austin stops to wait for me. This happens the whole time we're at the store. My mom and aunt wouldn't let us see anything they bought so they must have gotten a few Christmas presents too.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," I say, waving at them. "I'm gonna go open up Sonic Boom." I turn to leave but Austin follows me. "Oh, my mom will drive you home."

"I'll just come with you," he tells me. He wraps his arm around me as I walk off. "Babe," he adds. I sigh. When we get to Sonic Boom, I see that there's mistletoe hanging just inside the doorway. I unlock the door and push it open. I glance at Austin.

"You can go first," I say, gesturing inside with my hand.

"Aw, we should walk in together," he insists.

"No, no, you should walk in first," I tell him. "We wouldn't want to get... stuck, would we?"

"Ally, neither of us are even that big," he says, chuckling.

I walk behind him and shove him through the door. I walk in and stand behind the counter. He takes his usual place on top of the counter and I rest my elbows on the counter. I take off my coat and Austin does too.

"Hey, can you put these on the coat rack up in the practice room?" I ask Austin.

He nods, takes my jacket, and walks upstairs. I sigh, wishing I'd brought my songbook. I crouch down to look for the bowl of guitar picks under the counter.

I look under the counter and I don't see them. I look on the next set of shelves and I still don't see them. I look on the next set of shelves and finally, I find them. I reach out to grab it but suddenly, I feel myself being picked up and spun around. I feel someone's lips on mine briefly. I look down at who's holding me.

"Dallas?"

**Why, hello there everyone! Sorry that I haven't updated in 2-3 years! Who thought I died?! Whoo! Well... not whoo... Unless you're someone who didn't like me, THEN it would be whoo! But... yeah, I'ma shut up. Anyhoodles, how's everyone been? How's your mom? How's your dad? How's your sister? How's your brother? How's your grandma? How's your grandpa? How's your aunt? How's your uncle? How are your cousins? HOW'S YOUR DOG AND/OR CAT?! Anyhoodles, I have a question for you all.**

**What are you gonna be for Halloween?!**

**I absolutely ADORE Halloween c: It's one of my favorite holidays! Anyhoodles, tell me what you're gonna be. I wanna know all of your creative ideas! Even if they're store-bought, I wanna know what you're gonna be! I'm gonna be Spider Girl! (Spider Man's daughter) c: Anyhoodles, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey, baby," he says, smiling and setting me down.

I stare at him in disbelief.

"I'm here on vacation! My parents told me I could pick where we went and I said that I wanted to come back and see you."

"R-really?" I ask. "That's so sweet."

Before Austin, I would have been blushing right now but this is during Austin. My face stays its usual color.

"Yeah. I've missed you so much!" he exclaims. "It's been, what, four months?!" He wraps me in another hug and I sigh.

"Dallas, I have something to tell you," I say quietly into his chest. He doesn't appear to have heard me so I look up at him. He smiles down at me. "I have something to—"

"What the hell?" I hear from the stairs.

Dallas finally releases me and turns around. Austin's staring at us.

"What is he doing here?" Dallas asks me.

"Well, we're kind of—" I start but again, I'm cut off.

"I'm not allowed to be here or something?" Austin asks, slight anger in his tone.

"Well, you are kind of a bully to Ally and I don't think she'd want you around," Dallas tells him.

Austin walks up to Dallas and stares down at him. I notice that Austin is at least a full two inches taller than Dallas, maybe more.

"Actually, Dallas—"

"Ally loves having me around, thank you very much, Dallas," Austin spits.

"Austin—" I begin.

"Oh, yeah? When did she start to love having you around?" Dallas asks, putting air quotes around "love having you around."

I throw my hands up in annoyance at their ignoring my whole entire existence. I turn around and crouch back down to get the guitar picks. I reach under the counter and feel around for them.

"Hm, let's see. Maybe she started to love having me around the first time we kissed. That was _not _the time you saw us at the school, by the way," Austin starts.

I feel the bowl, grab it, and pull it out, setting it on top of the counter. I sit on top of the counter beside the bowl to listen to their argument. I would interfere but they wouldn't hear me if I screamed in their ears.

"Or maybe it was the night we went out on our first date... Or maybe it was, oh I don't know, _when we said we loved each other!" _Austin shouts.

"For some reason, I don't believe Ally even loves you," Dallas says. "Maybe the reason is that you've been a complete and total jackass to her since the day you met her!"

Austin's mouth falls open and so does mine.

"Ally, tell him you love me," Austin demands of me.

I stare at him, shocked that he acknowledged me. Dallas turns to look at me too, expecting me to disagree with Austin probably. I just blink and my breath catches in my throat.

"U-uh..." I say when I finally catch my breath. "Uh... um... u-um... E-excuse me." I push through them and run up to the practice room. I grab my coat, put it on, run down the stairs and out the door.

How could they just put me on the spot like that? I mean, obviously I do love Austin but I did really like Dallas. That was a long time ago though... I feel like I sent mixed signals or something. Does that make any sense? … Mrs. Pennyworth... Mrs. Pennyworth...! Mrs. Pennyworth...?

_Sorry, babe, I've got nothing._

Don't call me babe. And thanks a lot for the help.

A door to my right opens and someone walks out. I pay no attention to them though.

"Ally!" I hear from inside the store that the man walked out of.

I look and see Hailey's Hot Chocolate. The door closes. I walk over and open it back up, walking inside. It's so warm in here that I have to take off my jacket. I see why they keep this door closed. To keep the heat in. I look around for the person who called my name. Suddenly, Trish runs up to me, wearing a sky blue shirt and a crème-colored apron.

"Hey, Ally, what's up?" she asks.

I glance out the door awkwardly. I bend my pointer index finger, gesturing for her to come closer.

She obeys my command.

"Dallas is back," I whisper to her.

Her eyes widen. "Dallas is—?!" she starts but I cover her mouth.

I shush her. "He told me that he's just here on vacation. He should be gone after Christmas break," I tell her.

"But that's, like, two weeks from now," she argues.

She's right. And two weeks is a long time when you're waiting for something. Like for Dallas to leave... Well, he had friends when he was in Miami. Actually, he was very popular. He'll probably hang out with his old friends and catch up with them. It'll be as if he's not even here.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" Trish asks me, straightening up.

"Yes, please."

She walks off toward the back of the store. A few minutes later, she comes back with a beige mug that says 'Hailey's Hot Chocolate' in curly, black print.

"Thanks," I say, taking the mug from her. She sits down across from me. I wrap my cold fingers around it and I'm about to take a sip when I notice something. "There are no marshmallows in here."

"Oh, here," she says. She reaches into one of her apron pockets and drops a handful of marshmallows into my drink.

"Uh, thanks," I say again, taking a sip.

The hot liquid spills down my throat and I shudder. It feels so good. I take another sip before setting the mug down on the table.

Trish pulls the mug over to herself and takes a sip too before sliding it back in my direction.

"Trish, what if Dallas wants to get back together?" I sigh.

"Just tell him you're with Austin," she answers.

"I might... not be," I say. "He might be mad at me right now..."

"Why would he be? Oh, is it because you won't tell him what he did?"

"Uh... no..." I say quietly.

"Then why would he be mad?" she asks interrogatively.

"Well..." I sigh. "When I was at Sonic Boom, Dallas said he didn't believe I loved Austin. So Austin told me to tell Dallas that I really did love Austin and I... didn't."

"What do you mean you didn't? Do you mean you didn't say it or you didn't love him?" Trish asks, her eyes wide.

"I didn't say it!" I exclaim. I look around but, luckily, no one has looked up at me. She knows I love him. She should have known that I just didn't say it. We sit there in silence for a few minutes as I watch the steam rise from my hot chocolate. It cools down a bit and I see no steam. I gulp down some of my drink and sigh. I don't know what to do about this.

Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be working. Oops.

"Here," I say, taking some money out of my coat pocket and handing it to her. She gives me a small smile as I put my coat back on.

I smile back sadly and walk back to Sonic Boom, hoping Austin and Dallas have left. I walk inside to see them staring at each other from opposite sides of the room. Austin is by the front door, Dallas by the back. Austin notices I've walked in and he stares at me, anger in his eyes. I swallow and stare back at him.

"Ally, I need to talk to you," he says, barely moving anything but his lips.

I take a deep breath.

"O-okay," I stutter.

He takes my hand and leads me up to the practice room, making sure to give Dallas the nastiest look he can manage on the way. He closes the door as I walk over and lean against the piano.

"Ally..." he starts, pacing around the room.

"Austin, before you say anything, I want you to know that I _do _love you," I assure him quickly. He scoffs.

"Oh, _really _now?" he asks me. "Because, if you really loved me, then you would have told him that."

"I'll tell him right now," I suggest. He shakes his head.

"No, no, he'll think I paid you to do it or something," he mutters. "This wouldn't be so hard if you had just told him in the first place."

"Well, you two were making me uncomfortable and you were acting like idiots anyway!" I yell.

"How exactly were we acting like idiots?" he asks. I sigh and shake my head.

"Never mind," I murmur.

"No, tell me. I wanna know," he says as he stops pacing.

"It's not even important," I tell him. He walks up to me and looks down at me, towers over me.

"Tell me," he demands. I squeak, afraid.

"Don't hit me," I say, tears forming in my eyes. His expression softens a bit.

"Hit you? Why would I hit you?" he asks. "I would never hit you..." I look up, right into his big brown eyes.

"Well, that's funny because you did," I spit. Horror fills his eyes.

"I-I... I-I... I _what_?" he asks, not able to believe his ears. He shakes his head and swallows. "That's impossible."

"It's not impossible because it happened. And there's nothing you can do to take it back! That's why I was mad at you! I hate you, Austin Moon!" I scream. I stomp out of the room and down the stairs.

"Dallas, you have to get out. I'm closing the store." He opens his mouth to say something but I just point to the door. "Now!"

He runs out the door and I look under the counter for the keys. When I find them, I realize Austin hasn't left the practice room.

"_Austin!" _I yell. He runs down the stairs, apologizing many times. "Just get out!" I exclaim, walking to the door. He follows me out. I lock the door and he starts to follow me, spitting out apologies faster than you can say your alphabet.

When it gets unbearable, I break into a fast run to my house. When I get there, I throw the keys to Sonic Boom onto the kitchen counter and run up to my room. I strip off my jacket, throw it onto the floor, and jump into bed.

I cry my eyes out and no matter how hard I try, I can't lower the volume of my sobs. I cry all night. At some point, Jenna came into my room and held me while I shook with tears. She caressed my back and wouldn't leave even though I begged and begged. She had started crying too but they were basically silent except for the loud intakes of breath every few minutes.

Now, it's probably about midnight and my tears have finally stopped. I'm probably out of tears, to be honest. Jenna's now in my arms. I set her down on my bed and pull my covers up to her chin. Her face is pink and puffy from the tears. Mine probably is too. It probably wasn't too long ago when she fell asleep.

I walk across the room and look into my mirror. My face _is _pink and puffy. My eyes are red and very wet.

_Well, duh, Ally. You were just crying. Of course they're wet._

I sigh and turn around. I touch my cheek softly. I shake my head, remembering that night. Suddenly, another night comes to mind. The night Austin saved me. That, of course, reminds me of his scar. And it makes me uncomfortable.

Why is that thing bothering me so much?

_Are you really that dense, Ally?_

What do you mean...?

_It's obvious why it's bothering you._

I don't understand...

_It's bothering you because it reminds you of Austin's ugly face and you hate it._

That wasn't Mrs. Pennyworth's voice... That was more of a man's voice... Who's was it? I know it came from inside my own head...

_Oh, go away, Mr. Johnson._

That sounded like Mrs. Pennyworth's voice.

Wait, Mr. Johnson?

Oh, right, he must be the bad voice. I forgot about him... But this is just crazy. Mrs. Pennyworth and Mr. Johnson. One more "imaginary friend" to deal with.

_But what if I don't want to, Mrs. Pennyworth?_

I have gone insane. My imaginary friends are fighting with each other. I have gone insane.

I push their voices to the back of my head and they just become muffled noises. I pace around my room, thinking of nothing in particular... No, really. My mind is almost blank.

Suddenly, Jenna sits up, mumbling about something. I run over to her and kneel on the ground beside my bed.

"What's wrong, Jenna?" I ask. She frowns at me.

"Where's my unicorn?" she asks worriedly.

"I'll go get it," I tell her.

"_It _is a _she_!" she says annoyed. I throw my hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I'll go get _her_," I correct myself. I run down the hall to her room and grab the unicorn off her bed. I notice a piece of paper on her side table. I pick it up and look at it.

She's drawn two stick figures: one very tall and one very short. The tall one has blond hair and the short one has brown. It's obviously Austin and Jenna. Austin's kind of leaning on a red guitar she's drawn and Jenna is hugging her unicorn. They're standing on lime green grass and the sky is a light blue. There's a sun in the corner of the page and a few clouds in the sky. Across the top, it says "Merry Christmas, Austin!" in yellow crayon.

I put it down quickly and walk back to my room. I hand Jenna her unicorn and she smiles at me briefly before rolling over and falling back to sleep. I should probably get to sleep too. My head has gone quiet now. They must be done arguing. I sigh and lie down beside Jenna. I stare at the ceiling for a few minutes before finally drifting off to sleep.

**LoveAndLaughter, Little Red Riding Hood? That's awesome! Omg, by the way, I typed in your name and it asked me if I meant "manslaughter"... O.O Just thought you'd like to know that xD**

**Astrawberry11, omg, I love her!**

**Awesomesauce325, that's good that you've been good xD and homework? Booo! Ah, sisters. It's as if they're just there to annoy you -_- Aw, doggy! :D I'm not a cat person either XP but I didn't want to be animalist (I dunno, it's like sexist but with animals. Does that make any sense?) and just say dogs. A female Optimus Prime? I don't think I've ever heard of an outfit like that but I'm sure it looks amazing! :D**

**Ausllyluvr, I think it'd be cool to be Rydel or Taylor Swift. They're both amazing people! c:**

**AusllyBoriJimelFinchel1, that's good :) And Draculaura? Is that, like, a mix between Dracula and Laura? Haha, it sounds cool though :) And yeah, he was the boy Ally went on a date with after Dez. He moved away and shiz.**

**xXDemiFanForeverXx, whoa, awks O.O**

**Randomsmileyperson, *dramatic gasp* How could you NOT be a fan of Halloween?! But, I understand. Christmas is my second favorite because of all the mistletoe-y romance ;)**

**Bubbleslolz, Rydel? Awesome! And ugh, cats. XP I don't like cats very much.**

**Lema, :O You're gonna be Annabeth?! I love her! PERCABETH! WHOO! Haha**

**HG Just Because, hey! Like Ally! Haha, anyhoodles, Katniss Everdeen? My friend is gonna be Katniss this year, I think c:**

**Happy Halloween, my lovelies! Hope it's great for you! Review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	11. Chapter 11

I awake at the sound of a doorbell. I look down and see Jenna snuggling close to me. She's shivering just a bit from the cold and so am I. I stand up, trying my best not to wake her but I fail.

"Where are you going?" she mumbles quietly, rubbing her eyes.

"I think I heard someone at the door," I whisper to her, my voice shaking as I shiver.

I walk out of my room and down the stairs. The doorbell rings again and I groan.

"I'm coming," I say though they probably can't hear me. I open the door. Austin's standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. He gives me one of those sad, half smiles. I stare at him for a second before walking out onto the porch. I close the door.

Well, I don't close the door all the way in case I want to get inside quickly. I keep it open just a crack. I notice that it's started snowing again but it isn't a full out blizzard this time and hopefully, it won't turn into one. It does seem to be sticking though.

"I can't come in—?" Austin starts to ask.

"No," I cut him off.

"Okay..." he says. He starts to put his hands on my shoulders as he speaks. "Ally, I'm really, really—"

"Don't touch me," I say firmly. He stares at me, tears forming in his eyes.

_Stand your ground, Ally. You can do this._

He sighs and drops his hands. "Why are you treating me differently than you have been just because I know what happened?" he asks, his voice small. I shake my head.

"Because it's different now" is all I say.

"Different how?" he asks me. I sigh.

"Because you won't be mean to me anymore. I know you want to make it right. But _I_ just want to get over you. I can't though. You being mean was the only way I _could _get over you. Well, I thought it was..." I trail off.

"What do you mean...?" he asks, blinking back tears. I stare at him.

"Because!" I exclaim. I sigh, blinking back my own tears. "I-I don't think... I don't think I just love you... I think I'm _in _love with you... Desperately in love with you." I realize that there isn't really a big difference but it sounded good.

"Then why can't you just forgive me? Then we could be together and we could both be happy?" he asks. A single tear rolls down his cheek, tracing the line of his scar.

"Because I don't think I'm ready to forgive you j-just yet," I whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. His bottom lip quivers as the tears threaten to spill down his face. He bites his lip to stop it from quivering but that just makes his other lip quiver.

"Can you at least tell me exactly what happened? So I know how to begin to try to make it right?" he asks.

"I... I'll tell you. I'll... Later today, I'll meet you at Hailey's Hot Chocolate. Around noon," I tell him.

"Why not n—?"

"Because it's cold out here and you're not coming into my house," I spit. He sighs.

"O-okay," he agrees. "I'll meet you at Hailey's." I nod curtly and turn around, walking into my house. He stands there for another second then turns around, walks off my porch, and runs down the road. I close the door and start to walk up to my room.

"Who was that?" Jenna asks, coming out from the kitchen and scaring the hell out of me. I look over at her.

"Nobody, Jenna. It was just... nobody," I lie.

"Then who rang the doorbell?" she asks.

"The-the person that was out there rang the doorbell but they weren't important. Just go on back to sleep," I say.

"But Ally, it's eleven o'clock. It's too late to go back to sleep," she tells me.

"Well, it's just too late for everything, isn't it?" I mutter, more to myself than to her.

"It's not too late for you to forgive Austin," she says, staring directly into my eyes. I blink.

"How did you—?"

"I see how you act around him," she tells me, sounding much older than she is, even much older than I am. "And plus, I heard you two out on the porch. What did he do to you?"

"You wouldn't understand," I say quietly, shaking my head.

"Do I need to rough him up?" she asks, pulling up her sleeves. I chuckle a little.

"No, Jenna," I say, smiling and shaking my head.

"Okay... But if you decide that you want to tell me and I _do _need to rough him up a little, you know where I'll be," she says. She skips up the stairs.

Stay young, Jenna. Life is hard when you grow up.

I walk up the stairs too and into my room. Wait, did she say it was eleven o'clock? I walk over and flip open my phone, glancing at the time. 11:15. I flop down on my bed and stare at the ceiling for a few minutes. I look at my phone again. 11:30. I stand up and get dressed quickly. I slip on an extra coat because it's colder today than it was yesterday.

"It's like I'm balanced... on the edge," I sing to myself as I walk out of my room and down the hall. "It's like I'm hangin'... by a thread... but I'm still gonna push ahead. So I tell myself... yeah, I tell myself: Don't look down, down, down, down." I walk to Jenna's room and tell her to say that I'm at Hailey's Hot Chocolate if anyone asked. Which they probably will.

I look at my phone once more. 11:45. I walk out of my house and down the road, humming Don't Look Down to myself. Once I get to the store, I see Austin already sitting down at a table toward the back. I walk back to the table and sit down, not looking him straight in the eye.

A woman comes up and asks us if we'd like anything. We ask for two hot chocolates. We sit in silence, waiting for them. Once they finally get here, I wrap my cold fingers around it and take a long sip. Austin looks at me patiently. I swallow my first sip and start on another. Austin continues to stare at me. When I start on my third slurp, he gets annoyed.

"Ally!" he says. I sigh and swallow what's in my mouth. I hesitate, not knowing where to start. I decide to start with something he already knew about. He starts to drink his hot chocolate as I speak.

"Do you remember that time that I came to school with a bruise on my cheek?" I start hesitantly. He squeezes his eyes shut as he remembers. He nods.

"Y-yes," he says quietly.

"Well... th-the night before... y-you came to my house... and you were drunk..."

"That explains why I don't remember it," he mutters, still not opening his eyes.

"And..." I trail off, not knowing how to arrange my next sentence.

"And...?" Austin urges me on. I sigh again.

"Well... let's just say being horny and being drunk doesn't go together," I tell him. He squeezes his eyes even more. "So, w-when I wouldn't cooperate—and by that, I mean have sex with you—you..." I trail off again. A few tears roll down my cheeks. "Y-you hit me," I say, almost a whisper. He shakes his head, refusing to believe it. A single tear rolls down his cheek. We sit in silence for another moment or two.

"No," he finally says firmly, opening his eyes and looking up at me. He shakes his head all through his next sentence. "No, you had to get that bruise from something else. There's just no way I hit you. No. No."

"But you _did_ hit me, Austin," I say, my voice shaking. His eyes narrow and look darker.

"There's no way," he says through clenched teeth.

"You did! You can ask..." I trail off.

I didn't tell anyone but Trish and there's no way for her to prove it. I'm at a loss for words... "Well, you can take me to a science laboratory and have them search my brain for the memory!" I exclaim with a hint of sarcasm, throwing my hands up in fury at his disbelief. I stare hard at him, gritting my teeth. That really pisses me off.

"Okay, I know I can be cruel and evil, but I would never stoop so low as to hitting you," he tells me, trying to keep his voice even. "Drunk or sober."

"Austin—" I start.

"Ally," he cuts me off. "I wouldn't hit you. That's one of the things I promised myself I'd never do. Ever. _Ever._"

"Well, you broke two promises that night," I spit at him across the table.

"Oh, yeah? What other promise did I break?" he challenges me.

"You called me one of your sluts," I say through clenched teeth. His eyes widen. They didn't get very wide; they just widened to the point where I would notice it. They return to normal quickly though.

"Stop lying," he orders. "Tell me every single thing I said that night."

"I'm not lying!" I argue. People begin to stare at us. "Can we... um... go outside?" I ask, my face getting red. He looks at me, then at the people around us, then back to me.

"Sure," he says. He pays for our drinks and we walk out of the mall into the cold.

"First of all, I'm not lying. I swear on my grandmother's grave I'm not. And if I am, let lightning strike me," I say. No lightning strikes, of course. I sigh. "Look, Austin, believe me or don't believe me. Whatever. It doesn't matter to me anyway because I'm still mad at you. Maybe this way, we'll never talk again and I can finally... I don't know, fall out of love with you." He swallows.

"Wh-what?" he asks. The wind starts to blow.

"You heard me. I'm going to try to get over you. And hopefully, since you're mad, you won't talk to me. I'll do the same and stop talking to you. It'll be a whole lot easier for us to get over each other like that," I explain. The wind picks up.

"Whoa," he says, shaking his head. "I don't... want to... fall out of love with you. I don't want to get over you. I want everything to be right again. But if we're going to be together, we can't lie to each other."

"I'm not lying!" I shout over the loud wind. I stare at him. "You don't believe me, do you?!" I ask loudly so that he can hear me. He shakes his head ruefully.

"I don't!" he yells back. "I'm sorry..."

"You know what?" I ask. I pause. "I'm done!"

"What do you mean?!" he asks worriedly.

"I'm done! I'm done with you! I'm done with your drinking! I'm done with everything! And most of all... I'm done with us! Goodbye, Austin Moon," I say. I turn to leave, tears running down my face. It's so cold that my tears actually freeze as they run down my face.

"_I know you've seen what I do with other girls," he told me. "I kiss them, I take them out on a date, I tell them I love them, and I fuck them. That's how it goes with every girl. Every one of my sluts. You're one of my sluts. You have to remember that."_

_Suddenly, I felt his fist hit my cheek._

He called me one of his sluts and he hit me. Two promises, one to me and one to himself, broken in less than five minutes. And it drove me to this.

* * *

**Supersweetp (Parveena), omg, yay! I made someone cry! Wow, that sounded a lot better in my head... What you said doesn't sound stupid, by the way. But I'm happy because I don't think my writing has ever made someone cry before and that makes me feel like I'm a good writer. So thank you for crying c: And you are the sweetest person in the world! :D**

**Awesomesauce325, omg, were you really in tears?! :O And yeah, I know, right? It's like they feed on giving children homework and that's how they survive or something -_- And I'm pretty good, I guess. And xD and yeah, I have an Instagram. Kenzieleemyers :)**

**Ausllyluvr, awesome :)**

**AusllyBoriJimelFinchel1, ohhhhhh, that makes sense, haha.**

**LoveAndLaughter, uh... how about you don't and say you did...? xD Haha, and I was gonna be Spider Girl (Spider Man's daughter) but I didn't get to go trick or treating so it was a waste getting my costume :(**

**So! You probably all hate me right now, am I right? For getting Ally to break up with Austin? Well, you don't need to worry about that because... well, you just don't need to worry about it. Take my word for it :) Anyhoodles, review!**

_**LoVe, KeNzIe**_


	12. Chapter 12

"Ally!" I hear from behind me. I don't turn around. "Ally! Allyson! Allyson Marie Dawson! You get back here! I love you!" he shouts. I sob loudly. Suddenly, I hear someone behind me. I glance quickly and see Dallas. I wipe the frozen water from my face.

"H-hey, Dallas!" I yell. I hug myself. He smiles warmly at me.

"So now that you aren't dating Austin, how would you like to be my girlfriend again?" he asks loudly over the wind.

"I'm sorry! I kind of just got out of a serious relationship! Literally about five seconds ago!" I tell him. He frowns.

"I know but I really like you and it's good that you left that Austin guy!" he says. I stare at him. When did Dallas become such a dick?

"Dallas, I—" Before I can say another word, a figure runs by us, knocks Dallas over, and drives him into a snow bank, pinning him in it. I notice that it's Austin! "Austin!" I scream as he punches Dallas.

"Stop it! Don't hurt him! Austin, get the hell off of him!" I would go and try to pull Austin off of Dallas but I know how strong he is, especially when he's mad. And he's double mad. He's mad at me and also mad at Dallas. Dallas begins to turn blue from the cold.

"Austin!" I shout as loudly as I can. "You're gonna freeze him to death!" Austin stops punching Dallas and looks up at me. His face, once distorted with anger, is now returning to normal. He stands up and helps Dallas out of the snow bank. More tears run down my face and freeze. I run home, not wanting to talk to anyone.

I open the door and, as I did yesterday, I run up to room, strip off my jacket, and jump into bed. I hug my knees and bury my face into them as well. I made sure to lock the door this time though in case Jenna wants to come comfort me again. I don't need comfort right now though. I just need to go back to being a kid. When everything was simple and I didn't need to worry about boys fighting over me.

Wow, did I just say that?

Are boys _really _fighting over Ally Dawson? _The _Allyson Dawson? The short, nerdy whore who always has her nose in her book and her head in the clouds? I believe so. Suddenly, what exactly just happened dawns on me and it makes me cry even harder:

I just broke up with the love of my life. _And _I told him goodbye, as if to write him out of my life.

"Oh, God," I mutter into in my knees. "What have I done?"

_You've just broken up_—

I know what I've done, Mrs. Pennyworth. But what do I do...?

_You don't know._

What do you mean?

_You seem to forget, dear Ally... I'm you._

I roll over onto my stomach and cry loudly into my pillow. I hear a knock on the door.

"Ally? Ally, it's Aunt Ashley," she says.

"Go away!" I yell. She knocks a few more times and finally, she leaves. "Austin..." I moan. "Austin..." Mom comes up next.

"Ally... it's Mom..." She knocks again. "Ally, honey, are you alright? Do you wanna talk about what happened?" she asks. I shake my head even though she can't see me.

"No," I call. "Just leave me alone!" To my surprise, Jenna doesn't come up.

It's been a few days. I haven't eaten anything. I haven't drunk anything. I haven't showered. And I haven't stopped crying either. It's only a few hours after midnight now. This is the only time I really leave my room. I unlock my door and sneak downstairs.

I've been coming down here just after midnight and watching the snow fall from the living room window. I don't like watching it from my balcony because my balcony reminds me of Austin.

During our problem-less two weeks, he would sneak over to my house. He would climb up onto my balcony and knock on the door. We would stay up all night, talking. Just talking. Okay, maybe just a few kisses but, as always, no further than that. Then, once the sun started to come up, he'd run out onto my balcony and jump over the railing. Then he'd run back home. God, how I miss our late night talks.

I cry harder, keeping my sobs silent. The snow falls outside the window and I can almost hear bells...

_Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way... Hey, wouldn't it be so romantic if Austin came by on Christmas?_

Tears roll quickly down my cheeks at Mrs. Pennyworth's words. I sit down here for a few hours. Then I look at the time and see that it's almost time for my mom to wake up. So I run up to my room and finally let out my loud sobs. About an hour or so later, Jenna comes up.

"A-Ally?" she stutters through the door. She goes on and on about how she doesn't like it when I cry for a few minutes. Then she asks something that I don't expect. "Did you and Austin break up?" My eyes widen and I sit up. I walk over to my door, unlock it, pull Jenna in, close the door, and lock it again.

"How did you know?" I ask her. She hugs her unicorn as we sit down on my bed.

"Nothing else would make you cry for four days straight," she says quietly.

"F-four days?" I ask. "So it's the day before Christmas Eve?" She nods. "I'm sorry, Jenna, I haven't gotten you anything yet..." She holds up her sparkly, orange, rainbowed unicorn.

"This is the best present you could ever get me," she tells me. "I don't want anything else from you."

She smiles brightly. I smile back but with less enthusiasm. I wipe the tears from my face and try to stop more from coming but I don't succeed.

"So why'd you break up with him?" she asks. I swallow.

"I-I told him what he did... and he didn't believe he did it. I got mad and... well, I... b-broke up with him," I tell her. My voice kept cracking during that sentence. My tears flow faster than ever and Jenna holds me as she did last week.

"Ally, it's okay. You'll be fine again soon. You just wait," she tells me. And with that, she leaves my room.

It's Christmas Eve now and my tears have finally stopped. Jenna was allowed to open two of her presents. She's the only one I'll allow into my room. After she opened two of her presents, she ran up the stairs to show me what she got.

She'd gotten some kind of Barbie playhouse or something. And she'd also gotten that game called Headbanz. We've been playing this game all day. It's almost time for her to go to bed now. She's really good and I kept asking for a rematch. I finally admit that I suck at the game and we put it away.

"Oh, by the way, Aunt Penny said you could open two of your presents too," she tells me. I shake my head.

"Tell her I don't want to. I'll wait until tomorrow," I say. She nods in understanding and walks down the stairs, closing and locking my door behind her.

I pick up my songbook and realize I haven't written in it in a while.

_Dear Diary/Songbook,_

_I'm sorry that I haven't written in you in a while. Do you remember when I told you that Austin hit me and called me one of his sluts...? And that I was keeping it a secret from him...? Well... I finally told him about it and guess what?! He didn't believe me! So... we... kind of... broke up... Well... _I _broke up with _him_. Hard to believe, huh? But it's the truth... I don't think I'll ever be the same again without Austin. I've made a big mistake but I think he's mad. I wouldn't want to talk to me either if I thought I was lying about something as big as that. I guess I'll write in you later._

_Love, Ally_

I sigh and lay down on my bed. I yawn and, for the first time in days, I'm actually tired. But I just can't sleep. I toss and turn until I hear no noises whatsoever downstairs. All is quiet. I unlock and open my door and sneak downstairs.

Eventually, I get so tired that I crawl the rest of the way down the stairs. I have one more doorway to get through then I can cross the room and get to the window. I feel like this isn't even worth it. I just want to collapse on the floor and fall asleep. So I stop at the doorway and just lean against the door's frame. Then I drift off to sleep. Half-asleep, half-awake.

**Austin's POV:**

I feel bad breaking into Ally's house like this but I just have to see her. And if I came to the door, her mom might let me in but who knows if Ally would let me into her room to see her?

I'm usually pretty good with my lock-picking skills so the door is open within five or ten seconds. Hopefully, she'll be sleeping by now so I can just go in, wake her up, and make her think this is all a dream. There should be no problems, right? This should be easy, right? Wrong. There's one problem.

Ally isn't even in here!

I don't want to risk walking downstairs in case someone else is down there besides Ally but I just _have _to see her... I sigh and walk over to her door. I open it a crack and listen. I don't hear anything so I creep downstairs. I wonder where Ally—

There she is... She's fallen asleep in the doorway that separates the hallway from the living room. I sit down beside her and watch her beautiful face as she sleeps. I look up and see... mistletoe. I lean down a little. I shouldn't do this... but you can't just be under mistletoe and _not _kiss the person you're under it with. I would rather kiss her while she's awake though so... I shake her gently.

"Ally..." I say quietly. "Ally..." Her eyes flutter open and widen to full size when she sees me. She opens her mouth and I use that as an opportunity to kiss her. She kisses back immediately. We finally pull away and she stares up at me blankly.

"Austin, what are...? Why did you kiss me?" she asks me.

"Mistletoe," I whisper, pointing up.

She looks up sleepily and then back to me. I take her hand and stand up, pulling her to her feet. I end up having to carry her up to her room. I lay her down in her bed and sit down beside her. She blinks.

"Sing to me," she says quietly.

"S-sing to you?" I ask. I haven't sang to her in months. She nods and I swallow.

I sigh, trying to think of the song I always sang to her when she couldn't sleep. It was a song she'd written... Suddenly, I remember it.

It was the song she sang to me on the night I told her I was bipolar... I sing in my most soothing voice. A voice I haven't used to sing or talk or anything in months.

_Deep in the meadow_

_Under the willow_

_A bed of grass_

_A soft green pillow_

_Lay down your head_

_And close your eyes_

At this, she closes her eyes.

_And when they open_

_The sun will rise_

_Here it's safe_

_And here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard_

_You from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet_

_And tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is_

_The place where I love you_

_Deep in the meadow_

_Hidden far away_

_A cloak of leaves_

_A moonbeam ray_

_Forget your woes_

_And let your troubles lay_

_And when again it's morning_

_They'll wash away_

_Here it's safe_

_And here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard_

_You from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet_

_And tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is_

_The place where I love you_

_Here is_

_The place where I love you_

Before she drifts off to sleep, she asks me, "Is this a dream? Or is this reality?" I want to say it's reality so bad. But I can't.

"It's only a dream, Ally," I whisper, "only a dream."

"W-well, if it's just a dream... w-will you stay with me until I fall asleep...?"

I nod. "Of course." I climb into bed with her and she snuggles close to me.

I guess she isn't as mad at me as I originally thought. Oh, wait, _I'm _the one who's supposed to be mad, right? But I can't stay mad at her. She's just too... Ally for you to be mad at her. I wrap my arms around her and pull her blanket over us. We lay there for a few minutes then she sits up quickly.

"Austin," she says worriedly.

"What? What's wrong?" I ask, mirroring her tone.

"Lock that door," she tells me.

"What? Why?" I ask.

"Well, I guess I can tell you since it's just a dream," she says. I feel worse and worse for lying to her by the minute. "I haven't left my room since we broke up. I've just been crying. I haven't been eating or drinking or sleeping. This is the first night I've had any sleep. And my tears finally stopped this morning."

Suddenly, my mood drops. About one hundred feet and plummets into the ground.

"And I haven't seen anyone except Jenna. If I don't lock my door, I just know someone will come in and try to feed me or something. Wow, that sounds like I'm starving myself. I'm not, I promise. I'm just not hungry, that's all."

I feel as if I'm about to cry as I stand up. But it'd be impossible for me to cry because I've been doing the exact same thing as Ally since the break up. I lock her door and lay back down beside her. Soon, she's asleep.

I take the wrapped box out of my pocket and set it on her bed-side table. And with that, I walk out onto her balcony, closing and locking the door behind me. I jump over the railing and run off into the night toward my house.

**Ausllyfan01, he really does love her, I promise. And aw, stop it, I'm blushing. And I'll read that as soon as I can :)**

**TotodileLove, OMG I CAN'T EVEN. YOUR REVIEW. ROFL.**

**Supersweetp (Parveena), omg, I love you. You are so sweet. I hope you never, ever stop reviewing because, after a long day and if I'm upset or something, your reviews always cheer me up and put me on Cloud 9 3**

**LovePeach16, guess what? There WILL be another chapter up later today! Haha.**

**Okay, hi everybody. Sorry I didn't update yesterday or the day before. The other day, I was sick and once I came home from school, I did my chores and crashed on the couch :/ And yesterday (I count it as yesterday even though it was, like, fifteen minutes ago), I didn't update in time :(**

**Anyhoodles, as I said above, there **_**will **_**be another chapter up later today. Maybe even two since it's been two days since I updated.**

**And I feel like an awesome writer since I made you all cry. Like, I'm crying right now except they're tears of joy. I feel like I've come a long way since last December when I started writing stories.**

**Oh, my goodness. My account is almost a year old! In about two months, it will be. Wow, okay. That snuck up on me. Wait, is it sneaked or snuck? I'm getting off the subject. The point is: there will be one, maybe two, more chapters later today! I love you all! Review!**

_**LoVe, KeNzIe**_


	13. Chapter 13

I roll over and feel only my sheets. I shiver a bit. Was that really only a dream? It felt so vivid and so real... I touch my lips. The lips he had kissed... in my dream... In my dream... I feel around for my phone, pick it up, and turn it on.

Since the last time I've seen Austin, in reality, I have missed thirty-two calls, twenty-six new texts, and eleven new voicemails. I delete the texts and voicemails from Austin and open the first text from Trish.

**Hey whats up?**

Then I open the next one.

**Ally r u ok? U rnt answering my calls and texts :(**

No, Trish... No, I'm not okay... I continue to the next text.

**Ok, ive given u time. Its been three days. And plus ur mom wont let me up to see u. R. U. OK? :O**

She's come by? I didn't even hear the doorbell ring... I must have been too wrapped up in my blankets and tears... I open the next text.

**Dont make me bust down ur door!**

Like she'd really do that. I open the next one.

**Allyson Marie Dawson! Call me asap!**

I'll definitely do that since you used my full name. Gosh, so intimidating... I feel bad for thinking that. I ignore my conscience and continue to the next text.

**Ok, Ally, u better have a good explanation for the next time I see u! Or shit will get real! ):K **_(1)_

Hopefully, shit will not get real because I'm in no state to take anything from her at the moment. I open the next text.

**Ally, I'm really worried about you! Please get in touch with me as soon as possible :(**

Okay, she texted me with correct grammar _and _spelling. She really _was _worried about me. I delete the rest of the texts. I notice it's about four in the morning.

Wow, I didn't really sleep that long, huh? Only about an hour or two...

She was worried. She won't care. I type in her number and press the call button. She picks up after two rings.

"Ally? Ally? Is it really you? Are you okay? What happened? What's wrong? Who do I have to kill?" she asks worriedly into my ear.

"Trish, calm down. I've just been a bit upset the past few days, that's all," I say quietly.

"Who do I have to kill?" she repeats.

"No one, no one," I say. The tears flow down my cheeks and into my hair since I'm lying down. I accidentally let out a sob.

"Ally, what's wrong?" Trish asks.

"I... I... I broke up with Austin," I finally say.

"You... what?" she asks. "But... I don't... _why?"_

"I finally told him what he did and he didn't believe he did it so I... I told him I was done," I tell her.

"Well, you have to go get him back! You're nothing without that boy!" she exclaims into my ear.

"Well, gee, Trish, thanks. I feel a lot better." I sigh and sit up, looking over at my side table for my songbook. "I..." I see something that catches me off guard. "... have to go, Trish. I'll call you later. Bye."

"Ally, don't you hang up this—"

I hang up and set my phone on my bed. There's a small box wrapped in red, white and green striped wrapping paper with a red bow on top. I slowly pull the bow, loosening it. Finally, the bow falls off the box and onto my legs. With shaking hands, I remove the top half of the box. I wipe my tears and look inside.

I see a note on top. I pick up the small piece of paper, open it up, and read it.

_Dear Als,_

_I'm sorry. Please forgive me for not believing you. I love you and I could never live without you. Merry Christmas..._

_Love, Austin_

I set down the note and look back into the small box. I take out the heart shaped, silver locket. A small, silver key dangles from it and I take it between my index finger and my thumb. I let it fall. Then I open the locket and see a picture of Austin and I.

I think it's from our third date. Or maybe it was our forth. I don't know. I don't even remember where exactly we went on any of our dates. All that had mattered was... Austin. I sigh and then I realize something.

I distinctly remember going downstairs. And now I'm up in my room. But, if I had sleepwalked up here, I probably would have forgotten to lock the door. Maybe I wouldn't have. I'm not sure. _But, _if Austin hasn't been here, then how did this present from him get here? That concludes it. Austin was here last night. But how did he get in...? I know that both of my doors are locked...

_Well, Austin _is_ a bad boy. He can probably pick locks as fast as he can break hearts._

Why did you have to say that of all fucking things, Mrs. Pennyworth? But wait... that means he broke into my house!

_Does it really matter that he broke into your house? Is _that _really the important thing here?_

I suppose not... Oh, but wait, that means I told him all about how I've been since we broke up!

I bury my face in my hands and groan.

_Honey, how many times do I have to tell you? Austin loves you. He. Will. Not. Care!_

You're right, you're right... You're totally right... But wait—

_Yes, he was really here and no, you aren't imagining the gift! We just have a feeling that he was here and we're going with our gut that he was here. And I swear, Ally, if you say "but wait" one more time, I will kill you._

Okay, okay. No more "but wait's," I promise. But... what do I do now...?

_Okay, first, try calling him. And if he doesn't pick up, you're going over to his house and begging for him back._

Okay, I got it.

I pick up my phone, type in Austin's cell phone number, and press the call button. It rings four times and I sigh.

"_Hey, it's Austin Moon! I'm probably rockin' out right now and I don't hear my phone so leave me a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can!" _Austin's voice yells in my ear. I sigh, wiping the falling tears from my eyes.

_Alright, I'll let you try one more time. But if he doesn't pick up this time, you're going to his house._

I pick up my phone, dial Austin's number, and my thumb hesitates on the call button. Come on, Ally. Just press the button. There's a chance he just didn't hear it the first time. Finally, I press the button and I hold my phone up to my ear.

One ring.

Two rings...

Three rings...!

Four rings.

"_Hey, it's Austin Moon! I'm—!_" his voicemail message starts but I just don't want to hear it. I flip my phone closed.

_You know what you have to do now._

I stand up and realize something. Along with not showering, I haven't changed clothes. Maybe I should at least change my clothes... Actually, I need to shower. Austin can wait at least five or ten minutes. Depending on how fast I can shower.

I run to my bathroom. I strip off my clothes, turn on the water, and get in while it's still cold. It slowly warms up but by the time it's warm, I'm getting out. I dry off quickly and put new clothes on. I go to my side table to see what time it is. It's 4:30. He probably isn't even awake.

Well.

He woke me up.

I can wake him up too.

I put on my coat. I look down at the locket and pick it up. I grip it in my hand and walk out of my room and down the stairs. I see Mom, Dad, Aunt Ashley, and Jenna sitting by the Christmas tree. They all look up at me.

"Ah, the turtle has finally come out of her shell," my dad says, standing up. "Santa left a few cookies. I know you haven't eaten. Would you like them?" He smiles sadly at me and I shake my head.

"No, thanks, Dad. I'm not hungry," I tell him quietly.

"Where are you going?" Mom asks, looking at my coat.

"I... I need to get to Austin's..." I explain.

"Why?" she asks.

"Why are _you guys _up so early?" I ask, avoiding her question.

"Jenna woke us up as soon as she got up," she explains. "Would you like to open your presents?"

"Aunt Penny, Ally really needs to see Austin. She can open her presents later," Jenna says. I smile at her.

"Alright, go ahead," my mom sighs.

"Thank you," I mouth to Jenna. She smiles back at me. I walk out of my house and start down the road.

Jenna has always been the only one who really understood me, my life. And even though she doesn't know exactly what happened, I know she probably knows that I'm going to Austin's house to try to get him back. She probably thinks something close to that, at least.

When I turn off of my street, I can't take it anymore so I break into a full out run toward his house. Tears roll down my cheeks.

What if I'm too late? No, I can't be too late. He asked me to forgive him for not believing me. Does that mean he believes me now or am I misinterpreting all of this?

I finally reach his house. At night, the trees cast their shadows onto the house and it looks very scary. I feel like I've been dared to go into the haunted house of a man who vowed to seek his revenge on this very night as I approach the front door.

I ring the doorbell once. Then I wait. Then I ring it once more. And I wait. Mimi comes to the door a few seconds after the second time I rang the doorbell. She opens the door wearing a black, silken robe and sees me.

"Ally, honey, what are you doing here at this ungodly hour?" she asks. "Oh, come in, come in. Get out of that cold." She grasps my elbow and pulls me through the door.

"Thank you for letting me in, Mimi," I say.

"You stay right here and I'll get you some coffee to drink, alright?" she asks, sitting me down on the couch. "You look incredibly tired." She leaves without waiting for my response.

I look toward the stairs. I wonder if Austin is up there... Wait a minute, of course he's up there. Am I stupid? This is his house. This is where he lives. This is where he sleeps. In my mind, I see him sleeping. His adorable face. God, I'm really lovestruck, aren't I? Mimi comes back and hands me a cup of coffee.

"Thank you," I say, taking it in my left hand and and taking a sip. Absentmindedly, with my right hand, my grip tightens on the locket. "So, is Austin asleep?" She frowns.

"Honey..." she says quietly. "Austin isn't here."

**Austin's POV: (Takes Place After He Left Ally's House)**

Gosh, I feel like such a stalker. I really shouldn't have done that. I—

Oh, no.

The present.

God, how could I have been so naïve? She'll know I was there. I kick the rock in front of me. I kick it the rest of the way home. I walk up to the front door and use my key to open it. My parents have waited up for me to come home.

"Austin Monica Moon, where have you been?" my dad asks, using his commanding tone. I sigh.

"I was at Ally's house," I grumble.

"And what exactly were you doing?" my mom asks, trying to mask my dad's tone of voice.

"Mom, I was just giving her the present I got for her," I explain. At that, my mother positively melts. She's a sucker for romance.

"Aww!" she exclaims. "That was so sweet!"

"Yeah, and really expensive," I mutter.

"Aw, you saved up to get it for her! That is so adorable!" she squeals.

"Honey," my dad says in a kind of whiny voice, nudging my mom. I'm so annoyed at my idiotic actions at Ally's house. I push my way through my mom and dad and run up the stairs. I hear them sigh loudly as if to say "There he goes again." I slam my door shut and lock it behind me.

I kick the wall as hard as I can. I pick up something from my bed side table and hurl it across the room. I'm not sure what it was, but I know it shattered into a million little pieces and also left a dent in the wall. I throw everything else on my bed side table across the room, making sure it breaks.

No one comes up to my room. I do this all the time. When I have an angry "twitch" as everyone calls it, my parents know I... throw things so they've learned to just ignore me. As everyone else does. I lay down on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. After all the noise I've made, everything is suddenly silent.

I'm just so upset right now. I would probably cry if I wasn't so cried out. I don't want to talk to anyone. Well, I guess I would talk to two specific people: Ally and Dez. I can't talk to Ally right now though. I just can't. I guess I'm going to Dez's house then. I grab a small bag and shove some clothes in it, along with my toothbrush and stuff like that.

I walk down the stairs to the living room where my mom and dad are sitting on the couch. Waiting for me. They look up as I walk into the room. They notice I'm carrying my small bag and they immediately run to my side.

"Austin, you don't have to leave. We all love you. The whole world loves you. You're an internet sensation for God's sake!" Dad exclaims.

Mom rubs my arm, leads me to the couch and sits me down. This is another thing they do for my sad "twitch." They reuse the same old speech as if I'll forget it. Next my mom will say if I run away, everyone will miss me. She'll name Grandma, Grandpa, herself, my dad. Everyone.

"Honey... think about it," she starts. "If you leave, Ally will miss you so much." What? "You know how much she cares and worries about you. She's the first girl who didn't leave." Tears prick at the back of my eyes and I shake my head.

"I have to leave, Mom," I tell her. She sighs.

"I-if you must..." she stutters.

"We'll miss you," my dad says. "I hope you change your mind and come back..."

We all hug quickly and then I'm out the door. They aren't worried because they know I'll be back. I'm at Dez's house within five minutes. I knock on the front door. Dez comes to it.

"Dude, it's, like, three in the morning. What do you want?" he whines.

"Hey, can I stay here for a while?" I ask. He glances at my bag.

"Yeah, sure," he says, stepping aside so I can come in. We walk up to his room. "You can sleep on that shelf in my closet if you want to, dude."

"Uh, no thanks," I say.

"Alright, _I'll _sleep in there then. You can sleep on my bed," he tells me. He walks into his closet and closes the door behind him. I push my eyebrows together then shake my head and sit down in his bed.

I can't believe they used _Ally _this time. I just... _Why? _Never mind, I know. They know I love Ally. And that I'd do anything for her. Such as stay home. They think I'll be back. And honestly, I probably will. I think about Ally until about 4:30 when I finally fall asleep.

**1. Since you can't do the greater than and less than signs on here, I had to improvise. Imagine that's a mad text face thingy. I know you know what I'm talking about. :P**

**Anneliese Bain, when I get writer's block, I usually just listen to music until a random idea comes to me. Somehow music helps me. _But _if that doesn't work... well... I'm pretty odd as you may know so when I get writer's block, I sit in my closet and write. I don't know. I guess the closed space gives me inspiration or something, I'm not sure. So just listen to music or sit in a closed space... Okay, maybe not the latter but... yeah :) Oh! Or if I have writer's block, I'll work on a different story, preferably one that isn't published so you don't have the pressure of having to update, until I get an idea for the one I have writer's block with. Okay, that doesn't really make sense but you asked what I do so... haha.**

**Ausllyfolive, YES. FANFIC GODDESS. And aw, yay, I'm glad I can make someone's day better c:**

**BOO! Did I scare you?! You probably weren't expecting this update but I GOT YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Anyhoodles. Review! Oh, wait, there will either be another chapter tonight or two tomorrow... THE ANXIETY IS MADNESS, I TELL YOU, MADNESS! Toodles c:**

_**LoVe, KeNzIe**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Ally's POV:**

I'm too late. I'm too late. _I'm too fucking late! _How could this be...?

"Do you know where he went?" I ask hopefully. Mike shakes his head sadly.

"No," he replies. "But he usually doesn't go far."

"Wait, you mean he's run away before?" I ask. Mimi nods.

"Yes, he's done it a few times before. The first time, he went to IHOP. The second time, he went to Grandma's because we'd lived pretty close to her. The third time, he went to Dez's house. And last time, he went to IHOP," she explains.

"Okay, so he's either at IHOP or Dez's?" I ask. Mimi hesitates.

"I'm not sure. He's older now and he can drive. He could've driven somewhere out of town for all we know," she tells me.

"You're just going to let your son leave?!" I ask, infuriated. I set my cup of coffee down and rise to my feet. "You're just going to act like it didn't happen?!" I grip the locket so tight that it digs into my hand. "You're just gonna let him run off?! What if he doesn't come back this time?! What if he doesn't ever come back?! Ever?!" I shout.

"Ally, honey, calm down," Mimi says soothingly. I take a deep breath and sit down. "We know he'll be back. He's our little prince. He'd never leave the kingdom forever."

"Okay... Maybe you're right..." I say.

"You'd better get home. Would you like me to drive you?" she asks. I nod. I'm still very tired so it might be best for her to drive me home. She drives me and when I finally get inside my house, I take off my coat and just slide down the door. God, I've driven him away from his own home! I bury my face into my hands. A few minutes later, I hear someone beside me. I look over and see Jenna sitting down.

"Where is everyone?" I ask.

"After we opened presents, everyone went back to sleep. But I stayed up, waiting for you to come home," she says quietly.

"What did you get?" I ask, trying to brighten the mood of the room. She shakes her head, mentally shaking off my question.

"Did you and Austin make up?" she asks me. I look down.

"He-he wasn't home..." I tell her.

"Where was he?" she asks. I shrug a little.

"I don't know," I admit. "He ran away..."

"I'm sorry..." she whispers, looking down too.

"It's not your fault," I say hoarsely, shaking my head.

"I know but I feel bad for you," she tells me.

"Don't," I say. "I'm not worth feeling bad for."

"Ally, you're worth the world" is all she says. I smile a little.

"Thank you," I say. Suddenly, she stands up and walks in the direction of the kitchen.

I hear the sound of a chair scraping across the floor and a few bumps. Maybe I should go help. A few seconds later, I hear the chair scraping again. Then I hear the microwave. I just don't feel like it. About three minutes later, it beeps and the chair scrapes once more.

Jenna walks back into the room with one of those macaroni and cheese singles. The ones in the shape of Spongebob. She hands the single to me along with a fork. I take it and just stare at it for a moment. She gestures for me to eat it.

"I know you wouldn't eat anything big," she says. I smile at her and eat the macaroni and cheese.

"Thanks, Jenna," I say with a smile as it satisfies my hunger. It actually satisfies it a lot more than you'd think.

"Have you tried calling him?" Jenna asks.

"Not since before I went to his house," I say.

"Try again," she tells me. I take out my phone and hold it to my ear. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings.

"_Hey, I'm_—_" _his voicemail starts but I hang up.

"You should get to sleep," Jenna tells me as I put my phone in my pocket. I shake my head at this as I finish my macaroni and cheese.

"I'm sorry but I can't. I'm worried about Austin. His parents said he could be anywhere," I tell her. "Maybe he'll come here. I'd much rather wait at Austin's house but... I don't know if he'd want to see me."

"Ally, he loves you. Of course he'd want to see you," she says.

"I'm still going to wait up until he's found," I say. She sighs.

"Okay. I'll see you in a few hours," she tells me. We walk up the stairs and go our separate ways into our rooms. I lock my door once more. I put my coat back on and walk out onto my balcony.

I shake and shiver for about three hours, scanning the dark sky. Well, it's not dark anymore so I guess I should say scanning the light sky. Someone knocks on my door and I run inside, closing my balcony door softly so that it doesn't make a sound. I unlock the door and jump into bed, pretending the door was never locked. I throw my coat onto the floor and try not to shake so much.

"Come in," I say quietly. The doorknob turns and in walks my mother.

"Hey..." she says softly. "Would you like to come down for breakfast? I-I made your favorite..." I nod.

"Of course," I say. "But only since it's my favorite." We both giggle. I climb out of bed and follow her down the stairs. The truth is: I'm only coming down because it's Christmas. Not because it's my favorite. My eyes widen. Oh my gosh, it's Christmas! I didn't get anyone anything! I notice something.

I'm still holding the locket.

I slip it into my pocket and follow my mom into the kitchen. Everyone smiles at me warmly, inviting me into the kitchen.

"Hey!" they all exclaim. I smile weakly and wave.

I see many Christmas breakfast foods but I can't really make any of them out. The only plate that really catches my eye is the plate piled high with pancakes. I stare at it as my mom sits me down. I blindly fill my plate but I don't touch the pancakes. Someone nudges me and I look over.

Jenna.

She smiles at me. I smile back then turn my attention to the pancake stack. I eat all that's on my plate, not tasting anything. Suddenly, everyone takes a bite of a pancake, almost simultaneously. Anger boils inside of me.

"How can you all just eat pancakes when Austin is missing?!" I blurt out. Everyone stares at me.

"Austin's missing?" my mom asks.

"Pancakes were his favorite food," I whisper. "Pancakes were his favorite fucking food!"

"Allyson, watch your language around Jenna!" my mom exclaims. She walks over to me and drags me up the stairs into the hallway.

"What is going on with you?" she asks me. "I want the whole truth. I want to know why you've been acting strange around Austin. I want to know why you haven't been coming out of your room. I want to know why you haven't been eating. I want to know why you left for Austin's house this morning even if he wasn't there. I want to know _everything!"_

"Alright. I've been acting strange around Austin... because... he hit me. And he called me one of his sluts. And I was mad so I asked him to start bullying me again so I could attempt to get over him and he did. And as for the last few days, I broke up with him. The day I came in and ran up to my room was the day I broke up with Austin. The love of my fucking life. I broke up with him. And I just did not want to eat, to sleep, or to do anything. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and _die! _And when I went over to Austin's house this morning, I was going to forgive him! I wanted to admit my mistake! I know he can't control himself sometimes because he's bipolar! Then his parents told me he wasn't there and that he could be anywhere. And I lost it! I just lost it! I'm just so stressed and I just want to kill myself! I can't live without Austin! Because he's my whole fucking life!" I take a deep breath and sit down on the floor. "He's my whole life," I say quietly. My mom sits down beside me and hugs me.

"Honey... I-I didn't know... I didn't know he was bipolar. I didn't know about any of thi—wait. Did you just say he hit you?" she asks.

'Yes, mom, but he was drunk," I sigh.

"He was drunk?!" she asks. "What kind of boy are you dating?!"

"Apparently, I'm not dating one," I say. She sighs.

"You really love this boy, huh?" she asks, calming down. I nod. "Flaws and all?" I nod again.

"Flaws and all," I whisper, staring at the wall opposite us.

"You still love him even though he hit you and called you a slut?" she asks me.

"Even though he hit me and called me a slut," I confirm. She sighs.

"I guess you really do love him," she says. "True love."

"True love," I repeat. "True love."

"Do you want to go and look for Austin?" Mom asks me.

"I don't know what I want to do anymore," I whisper. She stands up.

"Come finish your breakfast," she says. I don't move. I don't speak. She picks me up and carries me to my room and lays me down on my bed.

"Austin will come home soon," she promises me.

**Austin's POV:**

I lay in Dez's bed, staring at the ceiling. They've gone to their Grandpa's house to open more presents. The only thing I even want for Christmas is the one thing I can't have.

Allyson Marie Dawson.

I mean, I guess I could go and kidnap her but that's not the point. I mean I want her emotionally. I just want to take her somewhere. Somewhere we could be alone. And love her and kiss her and talk to her. I just want her all to myself. I don't mean to sound greedy but she's all I want. She's all I want for the rest of my life. If I had to, I could live without everything else.

As long as I had her.

Suddenly, a phone rings. I think it's mine at first but it's on vibrate. I look around and see a light on the other side of the room. It must be Dez's phone. It rings. And rings. And rings. I groan and walk over to it. I pick it up and drop it as soon as I see the name.

Ally.

I pick it back up and reject the call. Wait, why did I do that?! I'm going to call her back. I type in her number and hesitate on call button. If I call her on Dez's phone, she'll know I'm here. Maybe not... She might just think I'm hanging out with him. She might not even know I've run away. Well, she always seems to know everything...

The voicemail icon pops up in Dez's notification bar. I click it and hold his phone up to my ear.

"You currently have an extended absence greeting. To retain your extended absence greeting, press one," his voicemail says. I press one. "Extended absence greeting retained. You have one unheard message."

"_Hey Dez, it's Ally. I just wanted to know if you had any idea where Austin's at. He ran away, as you may already know, last night and I'm really worried. If you know where he's at, please call me back. Please, please, please." _She sighs. "_Bye." _I hang up the phone and set it down before I throw it.

She's worried about me. I smile. She's _actually _worried about me. I pick up my bag but stop.

My parents might have put her up to this. They might just want me to come home. I drop my bag and sit back down on Dez's bed. I chuckle. I almost fell for it. Almost. I'm smarter than they think. It doesn't make a difference whether I'm smart or not though. They still hate me. All of them.

I pick up my bag. I can't stay here. Trish will probably talk to Dez and Dez will probably tell Trish that I'm here and Trish will probably tell Ally that I'm here and they'll probably take me home to my parents. Or Trish will come over and know that I'm here. Either way, it'll still have the same outcome.

I drop my bag. I have nowhere else to go. Let Ally find me. Just let her find me.

**Ally's POV:**

I put down my phone and sigh. I come down once more that night for dinner. There's chicken, turkey, mashed potatoes, and many other things. I stare at the food on my plate for a few minutes before I finally dig in and finish it. Everyone erupts into conversation after dinner but I just stay silent. Everyone tries to start a conversation with me but it's quickly dropped. Finally, I bring my plate to the sink and look back on everyone.

"M-Merry Christmas," I say before walking up to my room. I sit against the wall on my bed, facing my balcony. I sit there all night. Just sit there.

**XxForeverDisneyGirlxX, Gah, I know, right? XD And yes, did you see all of the Auslly moments?! Wait... were there two hugs in that episode? Forgive my awful memory...**

**Ausllyfan01, oh my goodness, I love you. You're hilarious xD**

**So, hi! There'll be another chapter sometime today. I meant to update last night but I didn't get to finish it :( But anyhoodles, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	15. Chapter 15

Six more days have passed. Austin hasn't been found and Dez nor Trish have been any help to me. Austin's parents haven't been any help either. It seems like I'm the only one who cares about Austin. I've only come out of my room to eat dinner. Not breakfast or lunch. Just dinner.

But tonight I'm going to the New Year's Eve party Jimmy Starr is throwing. If there's one thing Austin loves more than anything, it's pancakes. I mean, performing his music. He has to be there. If he isn't, I don't know what I'll do. But I just have a feeling he will be there. A good feeling.

So, at 10:30, I slip on a silver and gold dress and step into some wedges and write a few words on a slip of paper. I put it in my shoe. I put the locket around my neck and hook it. I walk down the stairs. My dad is sitting on the couch, watching the news.

"Someone's a little dolled up," he notices, looking up at me.

"I'm going to a party," I say.

"But you've already gone to your one party this year," he says confused.

"I'm making an exception," I tell him with a smile. "Can you drive me?"

* * *

I forgot my phone so I'm forced to look through this endless crowd for him. I look around for Austin. I look everywhere. Every single place imaginable in this large place. I only see people whose names I do not know. I don't see the love of my life anywhere. Anywhere. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he's given up on performing.

**Austin's POV:**

"Gosh, where is my guitar?!" I ask the air in my room.

I've come home but only to get my guitar. I look under my bed, in my bed, everywhere. Well, not everywhere. I haven't looked in my closet. I open my closet door. Oh, there it is. I take out the red guitar and walk down the stairs.

"Austin, are you coming home?" my mom asks, hope in her voice. I think about it.

"Yes," I say. Her eyes light up. "As soon as I make up with Ally." She frowns again.

"Oh, I hope that's soon. I miss my little prince."

"I might see you later, Mom. Can I borrow your car?" I ask. She nods. "Thanks." I take her keys and kiss her cheek. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad!" I call up the stairs. I run out to the car and look at my phone. Oh, I'm late! I drive there as fast I can while obeying the speed limit.

"Austin!" Jimmy exclaims as I walk backstage. "I almost thought you bailed!"

"I'd never bail," I promise him.

"So where's Ally?" he asks. I frown.

"She might not be coming," I tell him sadly.

"But you can't perform a duet without a partner!" he exclaims.

"It was originally written as a solo song," I remind him.

"It was?" he asks. I nod.

When Jimmy first heard the song, it was from my phone. I recorded it as Ally and I wrote it. I edited out the parts where we were talking and stuff so it was just the song. Thankfully, Jimmy didn't notice any of the skips where I'd edited things out.

"Yes, I'd just recorded it when Ally and I sang it together," I tell him.

"I see," he says. "Well, I guess you could sing it the original way then. But if you decide you want to sing it with Ally, you have..." He looks at his watch. "An hour and fifteen minutes to find her." And with that, he walks out and gets lost in the crowd.

Well, obviously, I'd like to sing it as a duet but I don't know where Ally is! I sigh and take out my phone. I type in Ally's number and call her. What if she doesn't want to talk to me though? Oh, well. It's worth a shot. One ring, two rings, three rings, and four rings.

"_Hey, it's Ally! I probably don't have my phone with me because I can't have my phone to distract me while I'm writing. Anyway, leave me a message and I'll call you back! Bye!" _her voicemail says. I sigh. Ooh, I can call her house! I type in her house phone's number and call it.

"Hello?" her mom answers after three rings.

"Hey, Mrs. Dawson," I say. "Is—?"

"Oh. It's _you_," she says in the rudest tone she's ever used with me. "I know about what you did to my daughter. And if you ever lay a finger on her again, I'll come after you."

"I know. I regret that with every fiber of my being," I tell her. Whoa, did I just say that? "I didn't even know I did it until she told me. Just please tell me one thing: is Ally there? I need to talk to her."

"No, she's at the New Year's Eve party that Jimmy Starr threw," she says. My eyes light up.

"Really?! That's all I needed to know. Thank you, Mrs. Dawson. Bye," I say. I hang up the phone.

**No One's POV:**

Ally weaves her way through the large crowd, searching for that familiar face. Austin does the same. Ally finally takes a small break and walks over to the drinks.

She sees mostly alcoholic drinks for people to take shots of at midnight. On the far corner of the table, she sees some apple cider and grape cider. She pours some of the apple cider into a small cup and continues her search for Austin.

_Gosh, where could she be? _Austin asks himself. He walks over to the table with drinks on it. _Alcohol... So much alcohol,_ he thinks ruefully. _I could just have one sip and I wouldn't get drunk. I have experience with this. One shot will not get me drunk... I don't think. I can't remember._

"No. I have to find Ally. I can't waste my time over here," he says. So he buries himself in the crowd once more, asking everyone if they've seen Ally.

An hour and twenty minutes later, they still haven't found each other. Ally goes back over toward the drinks and refills her cup. Someone comes up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. Ally spins around, surprised. She sees Trish and Dez smiling brightly at her.

"You came!" Trish exclaims, hugging Ally. She leans up and whispers in Dez's ear, "Go find Austin and tell her Ally's here."

"Did you just say something about Austin?" Ally asks hopefully.

"He could be anywhere!" Dez exclaims, ignoring Ally, his voice getting louder with every word. All Ally heard was the last word though.

"Did you just say something about Austin?" Ally repeats. "Is he here? Is he here?!"

"Yeah" is all Trish says.

"Where?" Ally asks eagerly. Trish shakes her head.

"We don't know. He could be anywhere," Trish tells her. Ally groans.

"Don't worry, don't worry. He's got his phone on him," Dez says.

"How do you know? Are you sure?" Ally asks.

"Yeah, he made sure he had it before he left my house," he tells Ally.

"He was at your house?" Ally asks him.

"Yeah, he's been staying with me for the past few days," Dez explains. Ally suddenly feels angry.

"You mean he's been at your house this whole time and you didn't tell me?!" she asks angrily. "Why didn't you call me back and tell me that?! I left you a voicemail!"

"You left me a voicemail?" Dez asks confused. Ally nods. "Wait... was it on Christmas?" She nods again. "I left my phone at home that day when I went to my grandparent's house. Austin must have checked it."

"You-you mean... Austin heard my voicemail?" she asks, her anger fading, looking down. She looks up suddenly. "Just call him." Dez types in his number and calls him.

"_Hello?_" Austin answers.

"Dude, guess what?!" Dez asks. "Ally's here!"

"_I know that. Do you know where she's at?_" Austin asks Dez.

"Yeah, she's right over here with me and Trish," Dez says.

"_And where are you and Trish?_" Austin asks, annoyed.

"Oh, we're over by the—" Suddenly, the line goes dead. Dez looks at his phone. "Oh. My battery died." Ally groans again and goes off into the crowd.

"Ally, where are you going? Austin might look here!" Trish exclaims but Ally's already gone.

"There you guys are!" Austin exclaims, walking up. Trish and Dez groan.

"Ally just left," Trish tells him. She points off in the direction she went.

"Thanks, Trish," Austin says. He follows the way Trish pointed. Austin looks up at the stage. 2:05, 2:04, 2:03, 2:02, 2:01, 2:00, 0:59... One minute until midnight. He continues forward, confident in finding Ally.

Ally turns around, _her_ confidence in finding Austin leaving her, as the large clock says 0:14. Suddenly, everyone starts spreading out, as if to give Ally space to walk.

"Ten!" everyone exclaims. Everyone continues to spread out.

"Nine!" they exclaim. It's as if Austin and Ally are in slow motion as they spot each other through the spread out people. Suddenly, Austin realizes what everyone's doing and why they're spreading out.

_They've found Ally for me,_ he realizes.

"Eight!"

Ally realizes something as well.

"Seven!"

_This boy needs me,_ she thinks to herself.

"Six!"

_Without me, he'll go back into depression._

"Five!"

_I make him happy_—_whether it's because he's making fun of me or we're having fun_—_so it's easy for him to control himself._

"Four!"

_He can't live without me and I can't live without him._

"Three!"

_We were literally made for each other._

"Two!"

_I can't afford to be mad at him and he can't afford to be mad at me._

"One!"

Austin and Ally collide as a bell sounds loudly and confetti falls from the ceiling. Austin picks her up and kisses her.

A kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Austin doesn't put her down after they pull away from the kiss. He just carries her backstage, a big smile on his face. He finally sets her down and looks down at her. His mouth falls open slightly.

"You're wearing it," he whispers, staring at her neck.

"Of course I am," she says, smiling. She takes the note out of her boot and hands it to Austin. He stares down at it, as if he doesn't know what to do with it. "Open it." He opens it up.

"I want you back," he reads aloud. His eyes widen and he hugs her tightly, lifting her off of her feet. Then he carries her out onstage.

"No!" Ally exclaims. "What are you doing?!"

"This song is better as a duet," he tells her.

"What-what do you mean? What are you talking about? Austin, no!" she exclaims, struggling to get out of his arms. He stops.

"Ally, please," he says, looking into Ally's big, beautiful, brown eyes with his own. She melts.

"Fine," she sighs. He sets her down in the middle of the stage and hands her one of the microphone. Jimmy gives them a thumbs-up from offstage and the music starts.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Austin asks Ally, not speaking into the microphone. She nods and focuses, not on the audience but, on the wall at the back of the large room. As they sing, they make sure to use the whole stage as they do.

_Italics=Ally, _**Bold=Austin, **_**Both=Both**_

**Yeahhh**

**Whoaaa**

**I'm walkin' on a thin line**

**And my hands are tied**

**Got nowhere to hide**

**I'm standin' at a crossroads**

**Don't nowhere to go**

**Feelin' so exposed**

_Yeah, I'm caught_

_In between_

_Where I'm goin' and where I've been_

_But I know_

_There's no turnin' back_

_Yeah_

_**It's like I'm balanced on the edge**_

_**It's like I'm hangin' by a thread**_

_**But I'm still gonna push ahead**_

_**So I tell myself**_

_**Yeah, I tell myself**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

**It'd be so easy just to run**

**It'd be so easy to just give up**

_But I'm not that girl who's gon' turn my back_

_There's no turnin' back_

_**No turnin' back**_

_It's like balanced on the edge..._

**It's like I'm hangin' by a thread...**

_But I'm still gonna push ahead..._

_So I tell myself_

_Yeah, I tell myself_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Don't look down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

_**Down**_

"You were amazing, Als," Austin says, smiling at Ally as they walk offstage.

"Thank you, Austin," she replies, returning his smile. "You weren't so bad yourself." He chuckles.

"You guys were awesome!" Dez and Trish exclaim together.

"Thanks," Austin and Ally say, also simultaneously. They all laugh.

"When was that song written?" Trish asks. "And I can't believe it's a duet!"

"Well, it wasn't written as a duet originally," Ally says with a side glance at Austin. "But, apparently, Austin recorded it while we were writing it and Jimmy liked it as a duet. So Austin forced me to mentally kill myself by singing onstage."

"Ah, you can't say you didn't enjoy performing," Austin says.

"I gotta admit: it _was_ a pretty big adrenaline rush," Ally tells him. She jumps up and down then into Austin's arms. "Thank you," she whispers in his ear.

"Anytime," he tells her.

"Do you have anything else to do after this performance?" Ally asks him. He shakes his head.

"No, Jimmy has someone else performing," Austin says. He gestures to Jack Skuller as he walks by them.

"Then let's get outta here," Ally says, nodding her head towards the door. Austin smiles and sets her down. They walk outside. They race to Mimi's car, Ally's giggle ringing through the cold night air.

**Ally's POV:**

Gosh, my heart is racing. That was so exhilarating! Add to that, Austin and I are back together! Once we get to Austin's house, we walk inside.

"Hey, Mom, I'm coming home," Austin says into the living room as we walk up the stairs. I hear cheers from Mike and Mimi. Austin closes his door behind him and smiles as we sit down on his bed.

"Look, Austin, I'm sorry—" I start but he cuts me off.

"No, Ally, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was abusive but you have to remember, I was really drunk and I'm just glad you forgave me," he says. He strips off his shiny, silver jacket and throws it on the floor.

"I know that you need me," I tell him. He smiles again and kisses me. We stay up all night talking about... well, everything. I did make sure to call and tell my mom that I'd be staying the night at Austin's house though. I'm just so glad that we're back together.

**It's still 11:59 so it's still Monday! So it counts as two chapters in one day! Whoo! Lol, there'll still be another chapter tomorrow though so don't get your panties in a twist about how I can't end it like this or whatever. Anyhoodles, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	16. Chapter 16

After a comment on the cold weather, we suddenly go silent. I'm not even sure why. It's as if a thick blanket just fell over the room. It's even dark in here so that makes it even more awkward than it already is.

Earlier, Austin wanted to show me some kind of glow-in-the-dark drum sticks he'd gotten and we just never turned the lights back on. We've just been talking in total darkness. And the funny thing is: neither of us even cared about the darkness.

We only cared about our conversation...

Suddenly, I feel Austin's lips on mine. I hesitate but kiss back. He stops abruptly.

"What's wrong?" I ask the dark room.

"I don't know... You... you hesitated..." he says, sounding a bit confused. I sigh.

"I didn't mean to," I tell him honestly.

"What do you mean? You didn't mean to hesitate? How do you not mean to hesitate?" he asks.

"Sorry, you caught me off guard. I didn't... see you coming," I say with a giggle. Suddenly, I'm pushed backwards on his bed.

"So you didn't see that coming either?" he asks.

"Nope," I tell him.

"Or this?" he asks. He kisses my cheek. "Or this? Or this? Or this?" he asks as he kisses me all over my face. I giggle.

"Stop it," I say, giggling uncontrollably as he continues to kiss my face. Suddenly, he kisses my lips again and I kiss back immediately.

"Now you're quick on your feet," he murmurs against my lips. A few minutes later, we finally stop kissing. Austin turns on a lamp by his bed and a dim light falls over the room. I sit cross-legged toward the foot of his bed and he sits with his knees pulled in toward himself at the head of his bed. He sighs.

"What's wrong?" I ask him again.

"Can I tell you something?" he asks.

"Of course you can. You can tell me anything," I promise him.

"Well... Do you remember that one fan you still had on your street team website?" he asks.

"How did you know about that?" I ask him.

"I know about it because... that fan was me," he tells me.

"It... it was?" I ask. "That explains why they were so cocky." We laugh. When the laughter dies down, I ask, "So that was _really _you?" He nods and gives me a small smile.

"Yep, that was me..." he says quietly. "Other people might not be, but I'll always be an Ally Dawson fan. No matter what." He smiles. I lean forward onto all fours and kiss him gently before returning to my previous position.

"You are so sweet," I whisper, smiling. He yawns.

"Aw, is Austy Wausty sleepy weepy?" I ask in a baby voice, frowning playfully.

"Yes, he is actually," he says, also in a baby voice, as he rubs his eyes. "Can Ally Wally check under Austy Wausty's bed?"

"Of course she can," I say, turning my frown upside down.

I lean off the side of his bed and put my hands on the floor so I won't fall. I look under the bed and only see a bunch of instruments.

"No monsters," I confirm. I crawl up beside him and snuggle into his side, making us feel like one being. He cuts off the lamp and wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. If that's even possible.

* * *

We walk back to my house. Austin's left arm is around my waist so that he can hold my right hand. We walk inside.

"Hey, Ally. Hey Austin," everyone says together as we walk into the living room.

"Did I just hear the names 'Austin' and 'Ally'?" Jenna asks, running into the room. She runs up and hugs us both quickly then runs up the stairs.

"So are you two back together?" my mom asks with a smile. I nod, blushing furiously. "Did you two have a good time at the party?"

"Kind of. We were really just running in circles, looking for each other," I say with a chuckle. "Oh, Mom! Guess what?!"

"What?!" she asks excitedly.

"I performed! On an actual stage! In front of actual people!" I exclaim excitedly.

"That's great, honey! I'm proud of you!" she says. She stands up and hugs me. After that, Austin and I walk up the stairs. Jenna catches us, as we're about to enter my room, with two pieces of paper.

"Merry Christmas!" she says. "Well... Merry Late Christmas." She hands me a piece of paper and she hands one to Austin too. Austin looks down at his.

"Whoa! My guitar is _sick!" _he exclaims. He crouches down. "Thanks. You're a good artist, Van Gogh." He nudges her shoulder.

"Who's Van Gogh?" Jenna asks.

"He's an artist who cut off his own ear!" I tell her, opening my mouth in mock shock. Her eyes widen and she covers her ear. She runs to her room. Austin stares at me. "Hey, it's your fault for referencing that artist," I tell him with a shrug. "She'll get over it." He scoffs and smiles, shaking his head. I look down at mine.

She's drawn both of us as she did in Austin's picture. The only differences are: I'm a girl and I'm not as tall as Austin was in his picture. Plus, I'm holding my songbook instead of leaning on a guitar. This is so adorable.

We walk into my room. I tape my picture on the wall above my desk. Austin sets his down on my desk so he won't forget it when he leaves. Austin and I walk out to my balcony wearing our coats.

"Wow..." Austin says. "It's only been a semester of school and we're... together..."

"Yeah... Six years of torture and it only takes about four months to change my mind about you," I say, dumbfounded. "Amazing."

"I'm just glad you're finally mine," Austin tells me. "I hated having to switch girls every few days."

"Then why'd you do it?" I ask.

"I felt like... like I needed to make someone jealous. And now I know that it's you I wanted to make jealous," he tells me.

"Aw," I say. We stand in silence for a moment, watching the sun get higher in the sky. "But for your information, I did _not _get jealous."

"Psht. Please. Every girl gets jealous of the girl who's with _Austin Moon_," he says cockily, gesturing to himself. I roll my eyes.

"Shut up," I say with a smile, shoving him playfully. He smiles back.

"Oh, man. Those sluts are gonna hate you," he tells me. I shrug.

"They already did," I remind him. He gives me a sad half-smile. "Oh, don't start feeling bad for me. You knew they already hated me."

"True..." he says, sounding unsure. I look over at him.

"Did you really not know?" I ask.

"I didn't really care about your life before so I didn't really notice," he tells me.

"Oh, really?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "You seemed to care about making it a living hell."

"That was all I cared about," he says, frowning. "I'm sorry." He looks to his right, not looking me right in the eyes.

"Hey," I say, kissing his cheek. "Now I know why so it doesn't matter." We spend an hour talking about school things before he has to go home. He picks up his picture and we walk down the stairs.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," he says, leaning down and brushing his lips against mine.

"See you then," I say smiling.

"I hate that I can't see you off," Austin says, turning to Jenna and kneeling down beside her.

"It's fine. I'll be back soon. I'll be back for... the Fourth of July, I think! Except everybody's coming down then! Including my daddy!" she exclaims.

"I can't wait to meet him," Austin tells her. "Thanks, again for the picture... Leonardo Da Vinci." She smiles. "He didn't do any thing like Van Gogh, right?" he asks me. I shake my head. "Alright." He straightens up. "Bye, Mr. Dawson..." My dad actually smiles at him. "Mrs. Dawson, I'm truly sorry," Austin says. My mom sighs. Wait, what is he sorry for?

"If my daughter forgave you for it... I guess I can too," she says. Oh... that.

"What happened?" my dad asks.

"Uh... nothing, honey. Don't worry about it," my mom says. I smile at her.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," Austin says again, kissing my cheek. I blush. He leaves. About two hours later, we take Aunt Ashley and Jenna to the airport and watch them take off.

* * *

I walk into school the next day, ready to see Austin. But, of course, I have to sit through first period without him. After first period, I start to walk to my locker with my head down, ready to get pelted with insults... but they never come.

"Hey, Ally!" a few people say as I walk to my locker. I smile and continue to my locker.

"Ally, do you know what's going on?" Trish asks, walking up to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"A few of the cheerleaders just asked me if they could have a sleepover party with me and you," she tells me.

"Cheerleaders?" I ask, confused. "But... we're... losers. Why would they want to have a sleepover with us?"

"I don't know but I told them to be at my house this Friday at eight," she says. She narrows her eyes at me. "Last time something like this happened, you and... You made up with Austin!" she concludes excitedly.

"Trish, you already knew that," I say. "Don't you remember the New Year's Eve party?"

"Eh, not really. I wasn't really paying attention," she tells me, looking off into space. I stare at her, remembering when she came up to me at the table with drinks on it. Then I remember that Trish _is _pretty bad at paying attention.

"Well," I say, closing my locker, "I have to get to class. I'll see you later."

"Bye. Don't forget the sleepover!" she calls as I walk down the hall.

"I won't!" I call back. I walk into Chemistry and see Austin already sitting there, his chair leaned back onto only two legs. I sit down and he lets his chair fall onto all four legs.

"Hey, whore," he jokes with a smile. Not a smirk. A smile.

"Hey, Blondie," I reply, returning his joking smile.

* * *

***IMPORTANT!***

**Hey, everyone! So, I won't be able to write and publish or anything like that for a whole week! I'll be at my grandma's house but that's beside the point. Anyhoodles, you'll have a whole week to vote! So get voting! I'll check the poll when I get back and there will probably be a new story up either next Tuesday or next Wednesday. Sorry that this chapter is so short too! :/ At least it's over 1500 words xD Anyhoodles, review on the chapter and vote on the poll! Oh! And vote Calum for president! Haha, no, he's Canadian.**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


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